


Teach Me (How to Fall in Love)

by SalamanderGoo



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/F, Game Grumps Big Bang 2018, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentioned Self Harm Scars, Mild Angst, Multi, Past Suicidal Thoughts, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Romance, mainly fluff, past self harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 19:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 37,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15492558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalamanderGoo/pseuds/SalamanderGoo
Summary: He's a 30-something teacher at a high school.  Bright blue eyes, a guarded personality, and a past held in shadows.  Can it really be the presence of a 20-something Australian barely settled in a new country that helps him find ways to open up?When Ross arrives in America, he doesn't expect his job as an art teacher to be what ends up making fall in love.  When Brian starts the new year, he expects another year of the same things of the last 7 years.  But fate seems to have a different idea for him, his roommate, his roommate’s boyfriend, and Ross.  Their friends are just kind of along for the ride.  Love, passion, fear, and the darkness of the past all come to light.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It’s the start of a new school year, and Brian isn’t expecting anything other than the usual. But he might be getting more than he bargained for when he meets a new coworker.

“Ughhhhh I'm gonna miss you,” Dan whined as Brian picked up his work bag. 

“Dude, you leave for work in 20 minutes.” Brian tried not to grin as he looked over at Dan, who was sprawled out across the couch. 

“I got used to having you around for those 20 minutes.” He pouted, and Brian felt his heart swell a little as he looked at his childish roommate. 

He ruffled Dan's hair without a grin. “I'll be home tonight. If I don't have too much paperwork, we can work out the kinks in our latest song.”

Dan got up to hug him. “I'm holding you to that. Now go anger some teens!” He lightly pushed Brian towards the door, giggling. 

Brian rolled his eyes, smiling as he headed out to his car, keys in hand. “That’s exactly my job description. Bye Dan!” Dan waved as Brian drove off.

The drive wasn't long, just about 10 minutes from the small house he and Dan owned to the high school he'd been working at for nearly 10 years. He'd been there a few times that last week to set up his classroom, but hadn't exactly been all that social with the other teachers getting ready for the year. Despite them being close friends. 

As he made his way to the classroom, he was stopped by Vernon, the resident IT guy. “Hey, Brian. I just finished some work in your room and the projector should be working now. Some wire was faulty.”

Brian frowned. “...how long have you been here?”

“A few hours? Not that long really. I just have a lot to do in the next…” He glanced at his watch. “...45 minutes. I've gotta run! And Suzy's looking for you!” He ran off to the next classroom he needed to fix something in. 

Brian shook his head, heading to his classroom. It wasn't really built to be a physics classroom. Not that it couldn't be used as one, but it had been built to be a chemistry classroom. But Brian made do with what he had. He picked up his pink whiteboard marker, starting to write on the board, humming to himself. 

“Hey Brian!” A loud voice startled him, and the marker clattered to the ground from where it had fallen from his hand. “Didn't mean to scare you.”

Brian sighed, grunting as he bent down and picked up the marker. “Good morning Suzy…” His voice trailed off as his eyes came to rest on a man standing next to Suzy. A very attractive man. He was taller than Brian (not a surprise; everyone was), had vibrant blue eyes, and a smirk that made Brian's heart beat just a little bit faster. ...and he dropped his marker again. He cursed, quickly bending back down to pick it up, face flushed. 

She grinned. “This is my fiancée’s friend Ross. He just moved here from Australia, and he's the new art teacher. I would've introduced you sooner, but you were avoiding everyone, so…”

Ross laughed a little. “Uh, hello, it's nice to meet you, Brian. Like she said, uh… I'm Ross and I'm an art teacher.” He had just a tinge of an accent on his tongue and a bright smile that left Brian almost swooning. Their eyes met for just a second, and Brian’s heart raced.

Brian shook his hand, trying not to feel flustered. “Um, yeah, hi. I teach physics. AP and honors.” He cleared his throat, his hand feeling warm where Ross had touched it to shake his hand. Brian hadn't felt like this since… well, he hadn't felt like this in a long time. “Um…”

Suzy rolled her eyes. “Brian, you’re useless but I love you.” She shook her head. “We’ll see you around, okay?” She led Ross out of the room, absolutely smirking as they left. Ross on the other hand, was just confused.

Brian groaned, hiding his face for a moment before going back to writing on the board, needing to be ready for his first class of the day. He could catch up with the others later. Soon enough, the first students started to show up, finding seats at desks as Brian finished up the last few things that were on his desk. He glanced at the clock as the bell went off, signalling the beginning of class.

“Good morning everyone. I’m sure you’re all very excited to be back at school after summer.” He grinned a little at the groans he got from a few students. “I know, I’d rather be at home playing video games too, but I need a steady income and you guys need an education. Now, this is a rigorous course designed to prepare you for the AP test in spring. If you want to pass this class, you’re going to have to work. If after a week, you decide you’re not ready for the workload, please transfer to another class, forms are in the guidance office. I’m not trying to be cruel, but it will make this year easier for you and me.” Brian picked up the syllabuses off his desk and started to pass them out. “This is a general outline of the material we’ll be discussing this year, the projects you’ll be required to do, and the labs we’ll be doing.”

He headed back to the front of the room once they were all handed out. “I’m Dr. Wecht as your schedule and the board says, and while I’m sure you know at least some of your classmates, I’ve seen a few of you maybe once or twice. And because most ice breaker activities are absolute BS, I’m going to give a topic, and two or more of you can debate that topic. Is it convoluted? Yes. But so is physics.” He smiled when he saw a few students perk up at that. 

It went pretty well, and things only got out of hand once or twice. But he got a pretty good read on personalities and learned a few names, which was always a good start. 

Brian sighed softly when he finished up with his last class before his free period. The first day of the year would always be one of the most tiring. But he just stretched as he got up from his desk, grabbing his lunch from his work bag and making his way to the teachers lounge. Arin was already in there, sitting with… oh fuck. Ross. Brian steeled himself, refusing to start blushing.

“Hey Brian.” Arin grinned at him. “How was your summer?”

“I spent most of it playing video games and not wearing pants, so pretty good.” He laughed a little as he sat down. “If Dan isn’t home, he can’t enforce the pants rule.”

Arin rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “I’m not surprised. You’re such an old dork.”

“I’m totally not.” He grinned.

“Mm, you are. You’ve probably been an old dork since you were a kid.”

“That makes sense.”

“You’re the authority on things that make sense now?”

“I don’t know, ask my PhD.” Brian smirked, sticking his tongue out.

“You have a PhD?” Ross asked curiously, looking over at him.

Brian’s face immediately flushed red and he lightly cleared his throat. “Um… yeah. It’s in theoretical physics. I used to work in a university, but, uh… I decided to move to, well, here. Because of reasons.” His eyes were moving to look at everything but Ross’s face.

Had he looked at Ross, he would have seen the smirk on his face. Ross knew exactly what he was doing. He’d seen how flustered Brian had gotten that morning, and the blushing now only confirmed it. Arin raised an eyebrow at Ross who just held a finger to his lips for a second before shifting his expression to something far more innocent. “That’s super cool. I was never one for science. I’m sure you can guess I was an art major.”

“And I was never one for art… Some kind of parallel, huh?” Brian laughed a little, his blush getting just a little darker. He lightly cleared his throat, starting to eat his lunch.

Arin rolled his eyes. “So, Brian, how’s Dan doing? I haven’t seen him in awhile.”

“He’s doing good. Work has been going well for him. He got pollen on my favorite shirt, though. That’s what I get for letting him do the laundry.” Brian shook his head.

“Who’s Dan? Your boyfriend?” Ross asked.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Brian snapped. After a moment, he sighed. “Sorry, no, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s my roommate.”

Arin raised an eyebrow. “Wow, you haven’t gotten that defensive about Dan since 2006.”

“What happened in-”

“Brian had his first gay panic.” Arin smirked.

Brian rolled his eyes, standing up. “Wow, thanks for just dumping that on someone I don’t even know!” He threw out the rest of his lunch, not hungry anymore. He stormed out, heading back to his classroom.

Ross frowned. “What just happened?”

Arin bit his lip, looking over at the door. “I may have overstepped some boundaries. He’s… sensitive about some stuff.”

“One of those things being Dan?”

“Guess so.” Arin… knew a little more than anyone else about how sensitive Brian was exactly. He’d gotten drunk with Arin once and had just opened up about a lot of things. But that wasn’t Arin’s place to tell.

“Oh. I hope I didn’t make him uncomfortable.” Ross took a sip of his water, messing with the bottle in his hands.

“Nah, I don’t think so. I think he thought you were cute actually.” He grinned when he saw Ross’s face flush. 

“You think so?” Ross looked up at him, messing with his spoon.

“You think he’s hot, don’t you?”

“Shut up, man!”

“I mean, yeah, he is. Not my type though.”

“Your type is married guys.”

“My type is making out with a married guy while his husband rolls his eyes and changes the channel on the other side of the couch.” Arin winked.

“God, you’re so weird.”

“Thank you. Now, if you excuse me, I’ve got to get back to my classroom.” Arin ruffled Ross’s hair. “See you around!” He paused before he left. “Hey… if you do actually like Brian and if you ever decide to ask him out or something… just… don’t toy with him. Don’t break his heart.”

Ross just stuck his tongue out as Arin left, finishing up his lunch before heading back to his own classroom.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian comes home to find Dan and Barry on the couch. Old feelings spark up as quickly as he can push them away. It’s not jealousy, just loneliness. ...right?

Brian sighed softly as he unlocked the front door to his and Dan’s house. “Hey Dan, I thought we agreed against bringing in street dogs.” Dan was perched on his boyfriend’s lap, kissing him sweetly. 

Barry rolled his eyes, pulling away and looking up at him. “Hello to you too.”

“Oh, it’s Barry! Not a street dog! You’re so scruffy I can barely tell anymore.” He ruffled Barry’s hair as he passed.

Dan giggled, leaning on Barry as he looked over. “Hey Brian! How was work?”

“It was work. You know how it is.”

“Nope! I’ve never been a teacher, man.” Dan grinned, resting his head on top of Barry’s. Barry picked Dan up, moving him onto the other couch cushion.

“I mean, it was work. I met my classes. I don’t really start actual teaching until tomorrow.” Brian shrugged, setting his bag down. “But whatever. How was your day, Dan?”

“It was fine. Been planning stuff for Holly and Suzy’s wedding, but we’ve got a few months before we can actually put anything together or order the flowers. I mean, seriously. I love them, but who asks for marigolds for a winter wedding?”

Brian shrugged. “I guess they have some kind of deeper meaning to them. It’s sweet and gay, man.”

“They’re so fucking gay,” Dan agreed, snuggling against Barry. “And I would know!”

Barry just laughed, playing with Dan’s curls and kissing the top of his head. “You absolutely would.”

“How was your day, Barry? I… still don’t understand your job.” Brian smiled a little, sitting down on the end of the couch. 

Barry smiled. “I work on making new technology. Or… fixing the problems before new technology makes it out onto the market. But today was good. I fixed a few bugs in some programming.”

“That’s awesome. Are you staying for dinner tonight?”

“I’m planning on it if that’s fine.”

“Yeah, that’s cool. I’ll make dinner. And… try to keep it down tonight. The vents in this house make sounds travel.” He gave them a pointed look. To Dan’s credit, he didn’t blush. Barry did though. Very brightly.

Dan just laughed, wrapping his arms around Barry’s shoulders. “I make no promises.”

Brian sighed, getting up. “I’ll start dinner.”

“I can help.” Dan perked up, starting to get off the couch.

“No.”

“Aw, come on, Bri.”

“Don’t think I forget the pancake incident of ‘07.”

Dan huffed. “Are you still bent out of shape about that? It’s been years!”

“There’s still batter on top of the cabinets!”

“How would you know? You’re too short to see up there!”

“Oh, that’s just a low blow, Dan.” Brian made a face at him.

“I guess you’ve finally dragged me down to your level.” Dan smirked at him.

Brian stuck his tongue out. “I’m not that short. You’re just freakishly tall.” Brian crossed his arms. “Barry, do me a favor and keep him out of the kitchen?”

Barry laughed, giving him a thumbs up and sitting on Dan’s lap. “You’ve got it.”

Dan pouted. “Well now I just have to kiss you.”

Brian passed the twisting in his gut off as some kind of disgust at how sappy they were and went to make dinner. He wasn’t jealous. He’d just been single too long and it was starting to get to him. He was silent as he made dinner, his mood sinking as he heard Dan and Barry laughing and flirting in the living room. He liked Barry. Barry was a cool guy and fun to hang out with. Hell, he’d spent time with the guy when Dan wasn’t around. They were friends. But something about Dan and Barry being together? Maybe it was just him feeling stupidly abandoned. He and Dan had been living together for years before Dan even met Barry, but it was still dumb for him to- “Fuck!”

The noodles were boiling over. Brian quickly took the pot off of the burner, running a hand through his hair. It was his own fault for getting lost in thought. Brian let out a frustrated groan, just focusing on making dinner for now. He could do that, at least.

Later that evening, as dinner was wrapping up, Dan just had to open his stupid mouth. Dan wasn’t stupid. Brian was just touchy.

“So I was talking to Holly today and I guess one of her friends is staying with her and Suzy until he finds an apartment. I think she said his name is Ross and he’s an art teacher in the same school as you. Did you meet him?”

“Um… yeah, we bumped into each other. Why do you ask?”

“Because you need more friends. You pretty much never go out to do anything with anyone but me. All your other friends are from work, and that’s the only place you seem to talk with them.”

“Dan, I’m plenty happy the way my social life is.” Brian got up, trying to end the conversation. He didn’t need to be told how pathetic his life was. 

“Come on. He’s an artist and an animator. Plus, I think he knows Arin from when Arin did animation stuff online. He sounds like the kind of person you’d get along with!”

“Dan, just drop it, okay? Unless my lack of a social life somehow gets in your way-”

“I care about you, dammit. I just want to see you happy. You’ve been closing in on yourself lately. I remember how you were when we met, and-”

“Drop it, Dan!” Brian shot a glare at him, tensing up. “Just… drop it. Please.” 

“...Sorry.” Dan dropped it. Barry frowned, watching the exchange, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to get between whatever it was.

Brian silently took care of his dishes. “I’m… gonna go get ready for bed.”

Dan frowned. “Isn’t it a little early for that? And… I thought we were going to work on our song...”

Brian shook his head. “I’m tired and I have some books I want to start reading. Besides, Barry’s here. Spend time with him.” Brian started heading up to the attic.

Dan took a soft breath, watching him go. Barry spoke up softly. “What just…?”

“I got under his skin again. He gets upset so easily lately. I’m… I’m worried about him.” He sat down next to Barry, leaning against him. 

Brian laid down on his bed, staring out the skylight. His room was small and fairly organized. His room was mostly filled with his bed, his keyboard, and the two bookshelves crammed full of books. There was technically another bedroom downstairs next to Dan’s, but he’d liked the skylight.

After a few long moments of just laying silently on his bed and being mad at himself, he got up to change into pajama pants and an old tee shirt. He grabbed a book he’d borrowed from Arin, sitting on his bed to read in silence.

And if later that night, Dan heard a loud gasp signifying a nightmare followed by shaky breathing through the vents? Well… he’d known Brian long enough to know not to involve himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During his free period, Brian occasionally finds himself in the music room to play music on a borrowed piano. This is no different, but when a coworker walks in at just the right moment, everything could start to change.

A few weeks had passed, and Brian was spending his free period in the music room. He didn’t know Mr. Everman too well, but they were on good enough terms that he was allowed to use the piano whenever he wanted, as long as a class wasn’t going on. He was sitting on the piano bench, the folder crammed full of music for his and Dan’s band sitting next to him as he flipped through it. They’d been working on one in particular, one about supermonsters coming to earth and basically screwing everything up. Then Danny Sexbang vanquishes them with the help Ninja Brian. 

He found the sheet of music, setting it up. He’d written it out, so it was messy and some of the notes were scrawled out, almost unreadable. Except to him. His eyes scanned it quickly and he started to play the music, humming the melody softly to imagine what it would sound like with Dan singing along. 

At one point, he played one of the chords he’d written and cringed. It sounded… not right. He grabbed his pencil, experimenting with a few chords and nodding when he found a good one, humming under his breath as he rewrote the measure with the new chord. As he worked, playing through the song, editing it as necessary, he didn’t notice he had an audience. One Ross O’Donovan was standing in the doorway of the music room, watching Brian silently. He’d always been into the arts, but music was one section he’d never been able to succeed in. 

Brian was focused closely on his music, the rest of the world having faded away to him. But that was only until soft footsteps startled him. He jolted in shock, looking around. “Ross! Oh god, you scared me.” He sighed, putting a hand over his chest. “I’m too old to be startled like that.”

Ross laughed a little, leaning on the piano. “Aw, come on, you’re not that old. You’re barely even going gray.” He paused at the look Brian gave him. “Okay, maybe you’re going a little gray, but the silver fox thing is really working for you.” 

Brian rolled his eyes. He and Ross had become tentative friends over the last few weeks. Well, maybe he was the only one tentative about it. It wasn’t his fault he was paranoid and trusted maybe three people. And one of those people was Chris Pratt. And part of the reason he’d befriended Ross was to get Suzy and Dan off his back about how little of a social life he actually had. “Riiiiight… Thanks. I… I think. That sounded vaguely like a compliment.”

“What, has no one ever called you attractive before? That was… absolutely a compliment, man.” Ross grinned, but it slipped a little when Brian still looked kind of confused. Damn, had no one actually called him attractive before? “Um, so… what are you working on?”

“Just some music stuff. Dan and I have this dumb band. We play in bars sometimes. He does all the singing, obviously, and I do the background stuff like music. Sometimes his boyfriend helps out with lighting and special effects. It’s just a dumb little thing we’ve been doing for a few years.” He raised an eyebrow as Ross picked up the folder crammed full of sheet music and half scribbled pages of lyrics.

“This doesn’t really look ‘little’ to me at all. This looks like something someone made after finding a passion.” He opened it, looking through some of the pages. “Plus, some of these song titles look absolutely hilarious.” Ross grinned, pulling out a sheet Brian recognized. It was a bunch of dumb song titles that he’d never been serious about. Just things he’d written to try and make Dan laugh.

“Oh, those ones are…. They’re not actually going to be made into songs. I came up with most of those while I had students testing. They made Dan laugh so, you know, they were as successful as they’ll ever be.” He just kept his head down, scribbling out a few notes and replacing them.

Ross frowned. “Why do you always do that?”

Brian looked up at him, blinking a few times. “Do what? Change out notes?”

“No. You downplay everything you do. You’re smart and funny. So what if you’ll never make these anything more than song titles? They’re funny, they’re good for a laugh. So what if you don’t necessarily use your PhD anymore? You worked intensely hard to get it. You probably had more all nighters in 8 years to get it than most people will have in their entire lives. Own who you are. You’ve had successes in your life that you earned through hard work. So stop making everything you do seem like it’s less than it actually is. Take credit for the hard work you put into everything you do.” Ross’s hand was resting on Brian’s shoulder, and Brian couldn’t look away, his cheeks flushing red. 

“Oh.” He couldn’t find any other words for a long moment. “Um… thank you.” He couldn’t feel anything, so absolutely flustered.

Ross nodded. “Wanna play something for me? I’ve always loved watching people play piano.”

“Yeah, sure.” Brian nodded, shifting to change the music. With a deep breath, he began to play. It was an older song. He hadn’t even been a teenager when it was released, but it was still one of his favorites. He just lost himself in the music, forgetting everything. His stress, his dumb crush, his jealousy, anxiety… everything. All that existed for just a few moments was him, the sheet music, and the piano keys under his fingers.

Nothing mattered, and he could breathe.

Then the song was over, and Ross watched as the bright blue of Brian’s eyes faded back to the normal dull blue, watched as his shoulders slouched forward again. And it almost hurt. For just a few minutes, he’d caught a glimpse of the real Brian Wecht. Confident, strong, happy. But when he wasn’t playing, he was guarded.

Brian sighed, smiling a little. “So what did you think?”

“That sounded great.” Ross smiled at him, pleased to see Brian brighten up just a little at the praise. “How long have you been playing?”

“I learned in third grade, but I kind of stopped sometime around seventh grade and moved on to saxophone. It wasn’t until college that I started playing again. I tend to stick to keyboard, but I can also play drum set, a little bit of trumpet, clarinet, and xylophone. I haven’t touched a xylophone in years though. I mostly learned because I was trying to impress a guy I thought was cute in the marching band. I mean, it’s actually not too difficult and is a little like piano. I always wanted to learn to play violin though, but I never had the money or opportunity, so I just never got around to it, and I guess… why am I rambling? I’m… talking a lot, wow.” Brian cleared his throat. “Uh… so I’ve been playing awhile, I guess. Do you play any instruments?” Brian was blushing, embarrassed.

Ross thought it was actually kind of endearing, but he wasn’t about to tell Brian that and embarrass him more. “Me? Nah. I have absolutely no rhythm. I can animate a pretty good fight scene to sync to music though.”

“Can I see one of your animations?” Brian asked, smiling up at him

“You… really want to?” Ross smiled. “Yeah, sure! My laptop’s in my classroom, do you want to…?”

“Yeah, sure, let me just leave a quick note for Seth.” Brian grabbed a sticky note and the sharpie he always carried around, and quickly scrawled a note, leaving it on the piano bench. ‘ _Hey Seth, thanks for letting me use the piano again. I left everything as it was when I got here, don’t worry. -Brian_ ’

Ross grinned, leading Brian out of the room. His classroom was a few halls away from the music wing, so it was just a few minutes before he was sitting at his desk in front of his laptop. Brian looked around the room. He’d never actually been in that room in his years of teaching there. He’d just never had a reason to be there. Ross’s desk was covered in paint splatters and pencil marks. It was a piece of art in its own right, Brian supposed.

“Come here. This is a dumb little animation I made back when Pokemon kept coming up with weird new evolutions and creatures. Most of my animations are kinda parodies of stuff. But they were always a lot of fun to do!” He smiled brightly at Brian, hitting play on the video and letting the animation run. He couldn’t help but to smile when he saw Brian laugh softly, hiding the smile behind his hand. Sure, he’d rather see that smile and not have it hidden, but it was okay. He got Brian to laugh!

The animation wasn’t long, ending after the few minutes it ran for, but Brian was smiling. “Ross, man, that was really cool. I always admire the amount of skill and time it has to take to put an animation like that together. It inspires me.”

“That’s… super fucking sweet, man. Thanks.”

Before another word could be said, though, the bell rang and Brian sighed. “I should really get going. Uh… it was fun talking to you and all that jazz.” He paused. “...I just said that out loud.”

Ross tried not to laugh. “Uh, yeah. I guess I’ll see you around.”

Brian awkwardly waved, nearly running into a student. “Sorry.” 

Ross just smiled. He really was falling hard for that dorky, smart moron.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween! Despite this being high school, administration decides to have a dance for the students. At the last second, Brian is pulled to help out. Could this be... an opportunity?

“I’m going to murder Suzy!”

“Noooo don’t do that.” Dan leaned against the wall, watching Brian dig through a closet. “What are you doing, anyway? I heard your phone go off and you’ve been pissed ever since. You never actually explained what’s happening.”

“Administration is bullshit, that’s what.” He found a headband with devil horns that Dan had worn for Halloween a few years back. “Despite this being a high school, there’s a fucking Halloween dance. Technically it’s the Autumn Gala. What a pretentious name.”

Dan hid his laughter with a hand. “And what does all this have to do with Suzy?” He grinned.

“Suzy volunteered me to go and help out. Basically I have to go make sure teenagers don’t make stupid decisions in a high school gym. Exactly what I had in mind when I decided to go into teaching.” Brian was absolutely pouting, and Dan grinned. It was almost cute to watch Brian rant on and on, frustrated. Of course, it had to suck for him, but Dan couldn’t be too sympathetic. 

“So you’re not going to hand out candy to trick or treaters with me?”

“Sorry, not this year.” Brian felt kind of bad. “Call Barry or Holly. I’m sure one of them would love to come over and hang out with you.”

Dan knelt down with Brian, finding the cape to go with the horns. “You know… I think I have makeup somewhere if you want to do a little more than a red long sleeved shirt and devil horns.”

“Why do you have makeup?”

“I like to feel pretty sometimes. I’ll go grab it, you sit on the couch.” Dan ruffled Brian’s hair, heading down the hall to his bedroom. It wasn’t nearly as organized as Brian’s room, and his bed was a lot bigger. He found his eyes drawn to the bed, smiling faintly as he thought back to their early days of living together. Brian had a nightmare just a few days after moving in, and he’d come down to make sure Dan was okay. He’d ended up staying the night. They’d both had nightmares so frequently back then.

Dan shook the memories from his head. Dwelling on those times hurt for some reason. He didn’t know why, but any time he thought about how much closer he’d been to Brian back in the early days, his chest would ache just a little. He grabbed his small makeup bag from on top of his dresser, bringing it back out to Brian, who was messing with his sleeves as he waited. “Okay, ready to look evil?” Brian gave him a look, and Dan just laughed. “Hm… It’s a good start, but I think I can make you look just a little bit scarier!” He sat down on the couch and opened his bag, pulling out some of the makeup.

“If you stab me in the eye, I will end you.’

“Come on, Bri. You trust me, don’t you?” He gave Brian his puppy eyes and half a pout.

“...I trust you more than I trust Chris Pratt.”

“Good enough for me!” Dan grinned, starting to work on Brian’s makeup. He remembered a time where he’d done Brian’s makeup before and Brian had panicked and tried to kick him when he tried to put eyeliner on him. So he stayed away from Brian’s eyes, just making red patches of eyeshadow and blush, and using eyeliner to draw little scales on top of the red. “There you go! Just a little more evil than you were before.” He held up a hand mirror and grinned as Brian looked at his reflection.

Brian smiled. “It looks great Dan. Thank you.” Brian fixed the headband and put on the cape. “I should really get going. Um… Have a good Halloween. Sorry I’m not home this year.”

“It’s okay, Brian. Not a huge deal! I’ll call Holly and Barry and see if I can convince them to make cookies with me!” 

“Right. Have fun.” Brian sighed, pocketing his phone and looking back at Dan before quietly leaving.

“Brian! I’m surprised you actually showed up!” Suzy grinned as Brian walked into the main doors of the school.

“So am I. I left Dan on Halloween thanks to you.”

“Well… you look great if it’s any consolation. You shouldn’t be here past 10. They just needed someone else to come and they asked me if I could think of, and you were on my mind since we’d been texting earlier…”

“Well, I’m here now and I’m ready to suffer.” Brian crossed his arms.

Suzy rolled her eyes. “God, so dramatic today, aren’t we?”

“Suzy, Suzy, you say that like that’s news to you. I am, and will always be, the most dramatic goddamn person in your life.” He grinned a little as he followed Suzy to the gym. Arin was chatting with Vernon, who was finishing the sound setup (and blushing very brightly).

“Vernon, haven’t you been dating Arin for like… forever? How do you still get so flustered by him?” Suzy raised an eyebrow at them, but Arin just started laughing, a hand resting on Vernon’s hip.

“He’s just so cute and so much fun to tease!” Arin kissed Vernon’s cheek, giggling.

Vernon groaned, pushing Arin away. “I hate you so fucking much Arin.”

“No you don’t!”

“...No I don’t.” Vernon stuck his tongue out, pouting just a little.

”Love you babe!” Arin giggled.

Brian rolled his eyes at them, readjusting the cape he was wearing. “So… when does this thing start? I pay less attention to these things than my students.”

Arin glanced at his watch. “10 minutes. It should be winding down by 9:30, and all the students should be gone by 10. Hopefully cleanup goes quick. At least the week is almost over.”

Brian groaned. “I’m giving up my entire Halloween for this,” he complained. “Halloween is even better than Christmas.”

Suzy raised an eyebrow. “Do you even celebrate Christmas?”

“Not really. I enjoy Christmas parties though. It’s an excuse to get totally drunk. Dan and I do Hanukkah stuff, though.”

Suzy showed Brian a photo that Holly had texted him. “Well, Holly’s filling in for you.” The photo was of Dan and Holly hanging out, Dan eating a candy bar and laughing about something, Holly winking at the camera.

“Cute.”

Ross grinned, peeking over Brian’s shoulder. “Oh, cool. I’ve met him twice, but I would already die for Dan. He’s a sweetheart.”

Brian jumped in shock, startled. “Jesus, don’t sneak up on me like that!” He tugged on his sleeves, looking up at Ross. “You look good though.”

Ross grinned, wearing cute fox ears and an orange shirt with jeans, a fox tail tied to a belt loop. “Thanks! Holly did it for me before she left. You don’t look half bad yourself. I like the demon skin thing.”

“Dan did it for me. He apparently has a lot of makeup. I was going to just go with the horns and cape, but Dan stopped me before I could leave.” He shrugged.

Ross giggled, reaching to fix the headband. “There you go. It was crooked.” He laughed a little, watching Brian’s face flush pink.

Arin said something that he covered with a cough, but it sounded very much like “gay nerds”. Before Brian could say a thing, students started to show up, and he had to fall quiet instead of cussing Arin out like he would under normal situations. So he settled for sticking his tongue out and crossing his arms.

Arin just laughed, patting his back. “Aw, you know I love you, Bri.”

“Shut it, Arin.” He purposefully hit his shoulder against Arin's arm, walking past him. Ross giggled, starting to follow Brian.

He didn't know why, but he'd grown so comfortable around him. Brian just seemed to have a generally comforting presence, at least when he was calm. 

“Huh. I wasn't expecting many people to show up.” Brian's voice was quiet, and it shocked Ross, who hadn't expected him to talk. He looked at Brian, finding himself admiring him. Brian was absolutely stunning. He was just a little bit scruffy, his hair always a little messy. When he smiled, the smile lit up his whole face, when he laughed, he laughed with his whole body. And his eyes said more than his words ever seemed to. And then those eyes were turning toward him. 

Ross quickly looked away, his face flushing bright pink. “I wasn't staring.”

“Sure you weren't.” Brian laughed, covering his mouth with a hand. “See something you like?” His voice was just this side of teasing and Ross was immediately flustered.

“Uh.”

Brian grinned as they stood in the entrance of the gym, the lights inside dimming as music started playing from the speakers. Brian looked smug. Almost too smug in Ross’s opinion. 

“Shut up,” he mumbled, embarrassed.

“Didn’t say a word.” Brian stuck his tongue out, his go to defense measure against emotion.

“God, you’re a dweeb.”

“You’re just mad that I’m smarter than you.”

“You are not!”

“Tell that to my PhD.”

“In physics.”

“My point exactly.” He grinned, looking up to meet Ross’s eyes directly, crossing his arms.

“You’re a tricky demon, aren’t you?’

“Dumb fox.”

Ross paused. “Did you… did you just make a Disney reference?”

“Did you just catch my Disney reference?” Brian raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got a soft spot for Disney. Is that so hard to believe?”

“I would’ve expected that to be Dan.”

“You’re definitely right. But two people who live together can enjoy the same movies.” Brian grinned a little. “Can’t say I’m surprised that you’re a Disney fan, though.”

“What makes you so sure about that?”

“The fact that you’re an animator and Disney makes some of the highest acclaimed animated movies on the market. It just makes logical sense. And I happen to know quite a bit about logic.”

“...Okay, yeah, that’s fair.” Ross laughed a little, moving a little closer to Brian’s side. “You’re an enigma, Brian.”

“An enigma?”

“Mhm. I’ve known you for two months, I’ve talked to you nearly daily. But for some reason, it feels like everytime I learn something new about you, it’s just so out of the blue. And yet…” He paused a moment, gathering his bearings. “And yet I’m unequivocally attracted to you, and I want to keep learning these obscure things about you.” His voice was softer now, both as a way to keep things quiet, keep students from overhearing, and because he wasn’t quite sure how Brian might respond. 

“...oh.” Brian’s whole face flushed red, matching the dumb scales Dan had put on his face. “Oh.” Brian shifted closer, shyly slipping his hand into Ross’s. He kept their hands under his cape, keeping them hidden. “Okay.”

They were quiet, both blushing more than a little as they held hands, cloaked in the darkness of a stupid (in Brian’s opinion, at least) high school dance.

As the dance began to wrap up, Brian was texting Dan, still standing very close to Ross. 

_To Danny: **Yeah, I have no idea what I’m doing.**_   
_From Danny: **what do you mean? youve dated guys before right?**_   
_To Danny: **Well, yeah, but not since I was in college. Never anything serious.**_   
_From Danny: **ask him out on a date, spend time with him, get to know him, fall in love, get married, and so on and so forth.**_   
_To Danny: **You really think he’d ever want to marry me?**_   
_From Danny: **i mean, its probably too early to tell, but hell, youre cute. he already admitted to liking you and finding you attractive, so i dont see why not!**_   
_To Danny: **wow you just called me cute how gay Daniel**_   
_From Danny: **do you feel that asshole? can you feel me rolling my eyes? because i am. super hard.**_   
_To Danny: **I feel it. It feels the same way as when you make me roll my eyes everyday.**_

Brian grinned, sticking his phone back in his pocket. “Hey, Ross? Uh, I should probably get heading home soon.”

Ross nodded, moving closer to Brian. There weren’t any students left, and it was just them and other teachers who had been chaperoning the dance. “Yeah, okay.” He pulled Brian up into a gentle kiss.

Brian froze in shock, his face flushing pink. When Ross pulled away, he was blushing brightly. “Oh…”

Ross laughed. “Was… was that okay?”

“...fuck. Um, yeah, yeah, that was… wow.”

“Wow?” Ross grinned. He ruffled Brian’s hair, laughing softly.

“Shut up.” Brian pushed Ross’s arm away, making a face at him. “Uh, can I take you out? Like, on a date? I want to date you.”

“I’d hope so.” Ross smirked a little. “But yes. Absolutely. I’d love nothing more.” He grinned at Brian. “Text me and we can arrange something.” He bent down just a little to get level with Brian and give him a quick kiss on the lips.

Brian blushed brightly, smiling a little. “Right, yeah, that sounds good. I should get home…”

“Yeah, okay. See you soon. Probably Monday?”

“Probably.” Brian nodded, waving as he headed out.

Ross watched him go with a small smile. “So… you finally asked him out?” Suzy grinned, leaning on the wall and grinning brightly at him.

“I mean.. technically, no. He asked me out. I kissed him though, so I mean, I didn’t not ask him out!” Ross laughed, running a hand through his hair with a small smile. “God, I really like him Suzy. He’s so sweet and cute and… I really like his butt. He’s got a good butt, Suzy.”

Suzy raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. That’s the first thing I thought about him when I met him. That’s a man with a good butt.”

“Isn’t he?”

“Ross, I’m a lesbian.”

“I know. But you can appreciate a good butt, can’t you?”

“Not his.” Suzy patted his cheek. “Come on, help us clean.” She pulled him away. “I want to get home to Holly before it gets too late.”

Brian let out a long sigh as he unlocked the door when he got home. Dan was curled up on the couch with a sleeping Barry, Holly resting on the other end of the couch while watching whatever Halloween movie was on. A half empty bowl of candy was sitting on the small table by the door. “Get many trick or treaters?”

Dan untangled himself from Barry’s arms, nodding. “About as many as usual. We made cookies.” He pointed at a plate on the kitchen counter. “Chocolate peanut butter chip. Your favorite.” 

Brian smiled, grabbing one. “Hey Holly.”

Holly got up, kissing his cheek with a grin. “Hi Brian.”

“Ew, gross, you have cooties.” Brian took a bite of the cookie.

She laughed. “Alright, I have a girl to get home to. Happy Halloween dorks!” She picked up her keys and waved. “See you Danny!”

Dan waved, grinning. “See you Holly! Thanks for coming over.”

Brian grabbed a soda from the refrigerator, sitting on the couch with a small smile. “He kissed me.”

“He did?!” Dan was a little louder than he meant to be, and Barry groaned, rolling over. Right off the couch.

“I’m awake!” Barry jolted up, stunned awake.

Dan giggled a little. “Oh sorry, baby.” Dan helped Barry up, kissing his head softly. Barry groaned sleepily, curling up into Dan’s side with a long yawn.

Dan stroked Barry’s hair, smiling softly. Brian smiled, sipping his soda. “But yeah, he did. And I am still flustered over it.” He laughed a little.

“God, you’re so gay.” Dan laughed softly. “I’m glad to hear it, though. You’ve got a boyfriend!”

“I mean, is he really my boyfriend? I haven’t even been on a date with him.”

“It sounds like he’s your boyfriend,” Barry mumbled, his face crammed against Dan’s shoulder. 

Dan giggled. “My sleepy boy has a point.” He leaned his head softly against Barry’s. “Congratulations Brian, you’ve got a boyfriend!”

“...I have a boyfriend.” Brian giggled, blushing. “Oh my god.”

Dan ruffled his hair. “You have a boyfriend!”

Brian slapped his hand away. “Why does everyone keep messing up my hair?” He took off the devil horn headband.

“Because you’re a cutie. Especially with messy hair,” Barry mumbled, yawning.

“...oh. Thank you Barry.” Brian blushed, finishing his soda. “I’m gonna head to bed. Have a good night, guys.”

“Night Brian!” Dan grinned as Brian headed up to the attic for bed.

_From Ross: **Sleep well <3**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian and Ross are dating, and Brian is happier than ever. He isn’t, however, happy with the fact that the teachers are being sent on a retreat that’s dumb and expensive. At least he has to share a bed with Ross, which certainly isn’t dumb.   
> Also Suzy thinks Brian is a spy.

It was about two weeks later in the middle of November, and Brian was staring tiredly out the window of Suzy’s car, his glasses perched crookedly on his nose. “Fuck the school board.”

“Wow, someone’s angry,” she teased lightly. “Come on, focus on the positives. You get to spend a whole weekend with your boyfriend!”

“Yeah, on the money that should be going towards making the school better for students. There’s nothing that could possibly happen here that we can’t cover in a meeting. We have an inservice day in two weeks. How is that not sufficient?”

Suzy shook her head. “Brenda Wilson. That’s why.”

“No. You’re fucking kidding!” Brian looked over at her, shocked.

“Are you surprised? Any time we have to do something dumb like this, it’s always gonna come back to her. Remember when the cafeteria got rid of pizza? That was her. Because pizza isn’t gluten free. There are plenty of options that are gluten free!” She gave a long sigh.

“God, one of these days I’m going to show up at one of those meetings and say something that’s gonna get me fired.” He fixed his glasses, crossing his arms.

“I’ll support you from the sidelines. But I have a wedding coming up and a fiancé with an inconsistent income, so I’ll leave the job loss to you.”

He laughed. “Aw, Suzy, you’re so sweet. You support me in every endeavour that doesn’t hurt you.”

She reached over, patting his leg. “See? Now you’re starting to catch on!”

Brian rolled his eyes, laughing. “Shut up dork.”

“Oh, I’m the dork, Mr. PhD?”

“Yup.” He grinned. “I am an expert, after all.”

Suzy smirked, making sure the road was clear before intentionally swerving into the other lane and back into hers. Brian shrieked, grabbing the dashboard in front of him, making Suzy cackle.

“You’re the worst!”

“I thought I was a dork.” She grinned, clearly satisfied with herself.

“I’m gonna tell Holly to divorce you.”

“She loves you, Brian, but she loves me a whole lot more.”

Brian stuck his tongue out at her. “Fuck you.”

“I’m not interested, sorry bud.”

Suzy laughed as Brian gave a loud groan. “You’re killing me Suzy. You’re killing one of your best friends. You’re terrible.”

“I’m the worst!” She giggled as she turned down the gravel road toward the dumb retreat place. She parked, turning off the car. “Ready for this bullshit?”

“You know I’m not.” Brian unbuckled, getting out to grab his bag.

Ross grinned, hurrying over. “Hi!”

Brian smiled. “Hey. Was the drive okay?”

“Yeah. Except Arin complained that I drive too fast.” He shrugged. “How about you?”

“Suzy tried to kill us.”

“Did not!” Suzy swatted at his arm as she passed.

Ross laughed, pulling him up into a quick kiss. “She totally drives like a maniac,” he murmured, grinning. Suzy flipped him off as she headed to sit next to Arin under the pavilion. “Come on, we're being assigned tents because we're children.”

Brian laughed softly, letting Ross lead him over as he carried his bag. “Of course. I'm the youngest person here. According to my gray hair.”

“Oh come on! You're not that gray yet!” Ross stuck his tongue out at Brian. “You're still plenty sexy.”

“Hey, I never said I wasn't sexy. Just that I'm going gray. Because I work with teenagers and they stress me out. And my roommate is ridiculous. And his boyfriend is over like… all of the time.” Brian shrugged. “Also Suzy drives like a maniac and I think I'm totally gray because of her.”

Ross patted his back. “My poor stressed out baby.” He laughed as Brian leaned heavily on him with an overdramatic pout.

He sat up when Vernon, who was considered a part of administration, stood in the front of the pavilion. “Uh, excuse me? Can I get everyone’s attention? I just got word that there aren’t exactly enough beds? Um, so is there anyone willing to share with someone else?”

Brian sighed, raising a hand. “I can share a bed with Ross. I feel like we’re at the point in our friendship that it’s not weird.”

Vernon rolled his eyes, and Brian could feel Suzy rolling hers behind them. It took everything he had to not start laughing. “Right, okay. Thank you. I’ll be back with you all in a minute.”

He sat back down, getting on the phone with someone. “So, best friends?” Arin sat down next to them, grinning. 

“Obviously.” Brian squeezed Ross's hand, laying his head on his shoulder. “I mean, what else would we be.” 

Ross kissed the top of Brian's head, grinning. “Uh, ultra best friends.”

“Perfect.”

Arin rolled his eyes, laughing. “Of course. Not like I helped set up your first date or anything.” He ruffled Ross's hair, grinning. 

Ross rolled his eyes, laughing as he idly ran his fingers through Brian's hair. Brian had lightly closed his eyes, head resting on Ross’s shoulder contently. “Cute,” Ross murmured, smiling as Brian’s face slowly flushed pink. He was falling fast for Brian (and Brian was falling just as fast for Ross).

A few moments later, Vernon came back, giving out tent assignments. They were raised up on platforms with two cots each. Brian sighed as they headed up to the tents, Ross trailing behind him. Arin opened the tent flaps, dramatically bowing. “After you, gentlemen.”

Brian rolled his eyes, lightly shoving Arin’s arm as he stepped inside. “You’re ridiculous.” He set his bag on one of the beds, untying his sleeping bag. “I can’t wait to go home.”

Ross put his beg next to Brian’s. “Aw, are you not looking forward to sharing a bed with me?” He slid an arm around Brian’s shoulders. 

“I’m fairly certain we both have beds that aren’t disgusting and outside. Also inside has heating.” He looked at his phone. “And wifi.”

Arin laughed, flopping down on the other bed. “I can’t tell if you’re an old man or a teenager anymore, buddy. You’re so whiny.”

“It’s cold. And outside. I didn’t get a PhD to be outside.”

“...Fuck, that’s fair.” Ross grinned, unrolling his sleeping bag. “Hm… I don’t think this is gonna work.”

“What if we zip the sleeping bags together? We’ll both be warmer like that and it’ll take up less space?”

“Yeah, that can work!” Ross grinned as they started working to zip them together, Arin laying on his stomach to watch.

Vernon peeked in, grinning when he saw Arin. “Hey baby.”

Arin rolled over, grinning. “Vernon! Hey honey.” He made grabby hands, sitting up.

Vernon laughed, walking over and pulling Arin into a sweet kiss.

“Hey, none of that. This is a gay free tent.”

The other three turned to look at Brian, who was messing with the zippers on the sleeping bags. “Sorry, what was that Brian?” Arin raised an eyebrow at him, biting back giggles.

“I’m kidding!” Brian grinned, managing to get them together.

“You’re such a fucking nerd.” Ross kissed his cheek before sitting down on the cot. 

“Am not.” Brian made a face at him, getting his pillow out of his bag and tossing it on the bed. 

“What’s that?” Ross peeked in Brian’s bag, pulling out a tiny teddy bear with a green shirt. 

Brian quickly grabbed it, pushing it back in the bag. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” He closed his bag and kicked it under the bed. He sat down, laying back and closing his eyes a moment, glasses crooked on his nose. “So, do we have to go back down there, or…?”

Vernon, who was perched on Arin’s lap, sighed. “Not yet. Not until Jared and Jirard get here. Until then, we can just chill out.”

Ross grinned, laying next to Brian and reaching over to fix his glasses. Brian smiled without opening his eyes, moving an arm to carefully drape it over Ross’s side. Ross curled closer, kissing Brian's forehead softly. 

It was quiet for awhile, Vernon and Arin talking in hushed voices and Brian and Ross just enjoying each other's presence. Then Vernon's phone buzzed in his back pocket and he sighed. “They're here.”

Ross groaned, curled against Brian. “Fuck.”

Arin laughed, getting up. “Alright, let's go. It's already getting dark.”

Vernon pouted, getting up and wrapping his arms around Arin. “But I wanna stay here and make out with you.”

“I'll make out with you later, promise.” He turned in Vernon’s arms, kissing his forehead softly. “Let's just get down there and see what's going on.”

Brian got up, stretching. “Think I can steal Suzy's keys and leave?” He got a sweatshirt out of his bag, pulling it on over his head.

“She can and would murder you if you tried.” Arin grinned.

“Even better.”

Arin groaned. “Oh come on man, again with these jokes?”

“Who said they were jokes?” Brian just walked out of the tent.

Ross sighed, hurrying after Brian. “Hey, hey, what was that about? Arin reacted really weird.”

“Arin’s just a weird guy, don’t worry about it.” He shrugged as they walked back down to the pavillion.

Ross frowned, watching Brian for a moment as they sat down, shivering a little as a breeze swept through. It was extra cold that year, something Brian had been quick to point out as a result of climate change. Brian tugged his sleeves down, something Ross had been noticing more and more as they got to know each other.

But Brian never seemed to say anything about it, and Ross didn’t want to press him about it. So he just left it. Ross scooted closer, his hip pressing against Brian’s. They were quiet as the principal, Jirard, started talking. Ross tensed up a little in surprise when a hand rested on his lower back, but quickly relaxed, content. 

Brian leaned his head on his arm, sighing softly as he listened to the talking about what they’d be doing tomorrow. It all came down to talking about ways to make the school better and how to work with the curriculum more creatively. He rolled his eyes. This was all stuff that could easily be covered in a meeting, which wouldn’t be using the limited public school budget they had to work with.

Luckily, Jirard was done talking after a few minutes, and then asked for volunteers to go find firewood in the woods. Brian got up, volunteering himself. “I’ll go.”

Suzy got up, volunteering with him. “I’m sure the two of us can find plenty.” As they headed out towards the woods in the slowly fading light, Brian could feel her looking at him.

“Okay, what do you want?” He looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing, nothing.” She watched him as he bent down to pick up sticks.

“Why are you looking at me like that, then?”

“I was talking to Ross.”

“...about what?”

“You, mostly.” She began to gather firewood. “He just mentioned not knowing all that much about you or your past. And neither do I. I’ve known you for years. Nearly a decade. So why don’t I know much about you? Are you a spy?” She had been stepping closer to him the whole time, and he had been getting more nervous. But he paused at the last question.

“...a spy?”

“I mean, it makes sense. You seem to have some kind of mysterious past, but now you just live a lowkey life. Are you hiding from the government?”

“No?” He sighed. “I’m just… I just don’t like talking about it.” He shrugged. “So I’m going to… not talk about it.”

Suzy frowned, clearly not satisfied with that answer. “I still think you’re a spy. But I’ll drop it. For now, anyway.” She collected more wood, shrieking after a moment. “Snake!”

Brian turned around and hurried over. “Oh, it’s just a garter snake, don’t worry.” He patted her shoulder. “She’s harmless and just living her best life.” The snake slithered away and he smiled a little, watching.

“You’re not freaked out?”

“Nah. I love snakes. I wanted to get one a few years back, but Dan wasn't exactly keen on the idea.”

“God, you’re so weird.” She shook her head a little with a small grin. “I think we have enough wood here, at least for now.”

Brian nodded. “Probably. Lead the way.” He followed her back to the camp area, dropping the firewood in a pile by the fire pit. “Yeah, that’s definitely enough.” 

Suzy sat down on one of the logs, watching the sunset with a small smile. “I wish Holly was here… It’d be so much more fun if she were.”

Brian patted her shoulder, sitting down next to her. “How are wedding plans going? The big day is in a little over a month now.”

“It’s going well! Dan’s been so much help. We’ve got almost everything ready. I’m nervous, but… god, we’ve been together for so long, but I’m so scared of messing something up.” She sighed, leaning against Brian.

Brian lightly wrapped an arm around her. “Come on, Suzy. This is you and Holly we’re talking about. The last time I saw two people as in love as you two, it was my parents. Even if the wedding goes awful, even if for some reason a blizzard hits and the roof of the church caves in, even if every single worst case scenario in your head happens, it’s going to be okay. Because you two are so in love that the only thing that matters at the end of the day is that you’re married.”

Suzy smiled, leaning against him more. “Thanks. You’re a great friend, Brian. Even if you are probably a spy.” They both laughed, and a moment of silence passed. “I do hope the wedding ceremony goes well though. We’ve been planning it for over a year now.”

“I’m sure it will. I wasn’t trying to say that it won’t go perfect, just that-”

“That things will be okay even if it’s not perfect.”

“Exactly.” Brian smiled, looking up as everyone else came over, Jared, the vice principal, starting the fire in the fire pit. Ross sat down next to Brian.

“Hey dorks. What are you talking about?”

Suzy grinned. “Brian’s just being a chill guy,”

“Obviously I’m the chilliest guy.” Brian smiled, resting a hand behind Ross’s back.

“Obviously.” Arin grinned, sitting down on Suzy’s other side. “I mean, honestly, have you ever met anyone as chill as Brian?”

“I will put a stick through your throat, Arin.”

“See? Super chill.”

Suzy laughed, leaning against Arin. “Shut up.” She shook her head, smiling as she watched the flames of the fire. “Why do I spend all my time around men?”

“You love us, Suzy.” Brian grinned.

“Unfortunately, I do.” She playfully shoved his arm, making him laugh. “You suck.”

“My bedroom activities are none of your business.”

“What- Brian! You’re gross!” He laughed loudly, clearly proud of himself. Suzy groaned, covering her face with her hands. “I hate you so much.”

“I know. But you started it, so… It’s your fault.” He grinned at her.

“Fuck you, Wecht.”

He smirked. “Why, Suzy, you’re engaged! I could never be a homewrecker.”

Suzy gave a loud, annoyed groan. “Brian! No!” Arin was laughing loudly, and Brian just grinned, proud of himself.

Ross sighed dramatically, leaning on Brian. “You’re the worst. Also everyone is staring. Because Suzy is being loud.”

“In my defense, Brian is the actual worst and I hate him.”

“Actually, I’m the actual best and you love me.” Brian grinned, watching the flames of the fire as the sun went down, a few stars starting to appear in the sky.

Ross shook his head, smiling a little as he listened to the chatter of other teachers around the fire. After awhile had passed, everyone began to gradually disperse back to the tents for bed. Brian gave Ross’s hand a quick squeeze as he got up, starting to head up the small hill up to change and go to bed. Ross was in the middle of a conversation with Suzy, so he stayed behind.

Once he finished talking with Suzy, Brian had already changed into plaid pajama pants and an old sweatshirt, and was just coming back from brushing his teeth. He smiled, kissing Ross’s cheek softly. “Hey.” He pulled a book and a light from his bag.

Ross smiled at him, getting out his pajamas from his bag as Brian got in bed, opening the book. Ross started to change, unconcerned about being in front of Brian, but definitely noticed the way Brian’s cheeks flushed softly when he glanced up to see Ross shirtless. Ross caught his eye and winked, grinning as he pulled on his shirt.

He got into bed next to Brian, sighing as he laid down. He was very close to Brian, close enough to feel the warmth of Brian’s body near his. Neither of them moved, staying very still. They’d been dating for a little less than a month now, but they’d never spent the night together in any context. 

Brian quietly read his book, and Ross stared up at the top of the tent, feeling all too awake. Arin came in after awhile longer, quietly changing for bed. He got in bed, and his phone went off a few times and he was giggling, so he was obviously texting. Then he put it down and settled in to sleep. “Good night, guys,” he said quietly, rolling onto his side to sleep.

“Good night Arin.” Brian murmured, voice just barely loud enough to carry across the tent. He turned off his light and put his book down, taking off his glasses. “Good night Ross.”

“Night.” Ross sighed, closing his eyes. The day had been rather hectic and long, with new curriculum forcing him to give written tests, despite being an art teacher. He yawned, curling up on his side and falling asleep pretty fast.

The next morning came early. At least, that’s how it felt to Arin, who was the first to wake up to the sound of annoying birds. He groaned sleepily, stretching out in his sleeping bag and slowly sitting up. The sun was starting to rise, making everything in the tent mostly visible. He grinned when he looked over at the other cot. Ross was laying on his back, chest slowly rising and falling as he slept, and Brian was curled up against Ross’s side, head on his chest as he snored softly.

Arin quickly took a picture of them, texting it to Dan before he slipped out of the tent to head to the bathroom.

Ross started to wake up a few minutes later, groaning softly. Brian shifted in his sleep, but didn’t wake up, curling up tighter against him. Ross slowly opened his eyes, getting a faceful of Brian’s hair. He shifted a little until he was half sitting up, Brian’s head resting on his stomach. He smiled a little at how soft Brian’s expression was, how relaxed he looked in his sleep. He gently stroked Brian’s hair, sweet and careful.

After a few moments had passed, Brian stirred, eyelids fluttering a moment before his eyes opened. “Fuck,” he grumbled, pressing his face against Ross’s stomach sleepily.

Ross laughed a little, stroking Brian’s hair. “Good morning sleeping beauty. Sleep well?”

Brian just groaned again. He wasn’t a morning person. “Fuck.”

“Eloquent.” Ross giggled as Brian finally sat up, rubbing his eyes. “You’re so cute.” Ross leaned forward to give him a quick kiss, leaving him a little blushy. 

Brian laid down, covering his blushing face. “I'm not cute.”

“You're the cutest.”

“Shut up…” He laughed a little, flustered.

Arin came back, changed for the day. “Alright dorks, breakfast is in 10 minutes so get changed and get to the pavilion.”

Ross groaned, shimmying out of the sleeping bag. “Ross, can you hand me my glasses?” Ross picked up the glasses case and handed it over. Brian smiled as he put on his glasses, watching Ross a long moment. “...I really like you.”

Ross laughed softly. “I really like you too.” He gave Brian a quick wink before leaving the tent to go get dressed in the bathroom. 

“You're in deep,” Arin said softly. “But it's really cute.” He showed Brian the picture he'd taken earlier, which just made Brian blush harder. “I'm happy for you. You deserve to be this happy.” With that, he pulled on his shoes and walked out, leaving Brian in silence for a long moment before he smiled and got out of bed.

Maybe he did deserve to be happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s flu season. And of course, the one year Brian doesn’t get a shot, he falls sick and feels like shit. He’s lucky to have such good friends and a great boyfriend. But as he falls near delirious on meds, he comes closer than ever to his harsh past being found out.

A week had passed.

Students had the week off for Thanksgiving break, but teachers had to go in Monday and Tuesday. It was Tuesday, and Brian was bundled up under every blanket he had and two of Dan’s. He was probably getting a fever and was just cold. He’d been awake for nearly a half hour, most of his head under the blanket pile on top of him. His alarm hadn’t gone off yet.

Well, now it was going off.

He let out a long groan, slapping it off and slowly getting up. He ached. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, slowly getting out of bed. He’d call off under most other circumstances, but he knew he’d probably get chastised and accused of trying to get out of meetings.

He trudged downstairs to the bathroom, the house feeling extra cold. Dan wasn’t home, and he really had been home less and less over the past few months. It kind of hurt. He found himself… missing Dan. A lot. He was extra sappy though, probably, from being sick.

He stripped down to shower, leaning tiredly on the wall as water poured down his body. His eyes were glazed over, and he was probably much sicker than he let himself believe. But he didn’t want to skip today. And he had a date with Ross that night. So he just had to tough it out.

Brian blinked slowly at his own reflection after getting out of the shower. He was fairly certain he hadn’t washed his hair, but couldn’t quite remember. He reached for his contacts, managing to get them in with shaky hands.

In his room, he dug around, trying to think of what to wear. They could dress casually on faculty-only days, and he managed to find a thick sweater and jeans. 

He was so tired as he drove to work, wanting to go back to bed. He was hardly awake, staring out the windshield. If he was honest, he wasn’t totally sure how he’d gotten there without crashing or falling asleep. And then crashing.

He sat in his car for a few minutes after parking, so barely awake and shivering. When he finally managed to get out and stumble inside, Arin was the first to see him. “Oh my god, are you drunk?”

Brian looked up at him, blinking very slowly. “...what?”

Arin frowned, walking forward. Brian almost stumbled backwards when Arin pressed a hand to his forehead. “Dude, you’re burning up. You should be at home, not here!”

“‘M fine… don’t… don’t be so… um…” He frowned, trying to think of the word. It was nearly a full minute before he blurted “Dramatic! You’re being dramatic, Arin.”

“I’m not being dramatic.” Arin sighed. “Come on. Let’s get you sitting down, maybe get some water in you.” He wrapped an arm around Brian, starting to lead him. Brian leaned heavily on Arin, feet dragging on the floor.

“I’m tired.”

“I’m sure you are. You’re so pale right now…”

“I’m always pale.”

“You’re… excessively pale right now.” Arin sighed as he got Brian into his classroom, sitting him down at a desk. “Wanna put your head down while I find you a water bottle? Maybe I can find someone to get you home too.”

Brian weakly nodded, folding his arms on the desk and putting his head on them sleepily. Arin wrapped his sweatshirt around Brian’s shoulders like a blanket before heading to Suzy’s classroom. “Suze?”

Suzy was sitting at her desk with Ross. “Hey Arin. Brian here yet? He’s usually here before the rest of us.”

“Yeah, actually. He’s in my room with his head down. He looked almost drunk when he got here a few minutes ago, and I’m pretty much positive he’s running a fever. Do you have any water bottles?”

Suzy frowned and nodded, grabbing one from under her desk. She always kept a pack under there just in case. Ross got up, frowning. “He’s sick?”

“Yeah. Practically delirious. He’s so tired and I think he was shivering.” Arin looked over at Ross. “Are you busy today? Outside of the meeting that isn’t going to mean anything?”

“I… no, I shouldn't be.”

“Cool. Take this to him, I’ll go talk to Jirard and see if I can get you two out of today. He needs to go home and rest.” Arin handed the water bottle to Ross.

Ross nodded, heading down the hall quickly. Brian’s head was resting on the desk, his eyes hardly open, face flushed and pale at the same time. “Hey honey…”

Brian slowly lifted his head, squinting at Ross. “Hm…?”

Ross knelt down in front of the desk, opening the water. He rested a hand on Brian’s cheek, holding the bottle to Brian’s lips. Brian slowly drained the water, eyes half shut. Ross’s heart just broke as he watched Brian’s exhausted expression. Brian laid his head back down, and Ross softly ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry you feel like this, baby.”

“‘M sorry,” Brian mumbled. “Wanted… wanted to be okay… for our date.”

“Sweetheart, don’t even think about that. You’re too sick and need to rest.”

Brian looked at him with tears in his eyes. “You… you were so excited though…” He sniffled, looking down at the desk, just feeling tired and embarrassed. 

“Shh… we can reschedule. I want you to get better way more than I want to go on a date tonight.” He ran his fingers through Brian’s hair, smiling faintly as Brian leaned into the touch. 

Brian wiped at his eyes with a shaky sigh. “Head hurts.”

“I’m sure it does… I’m taking your temperature once I get you home.” But Ross frowned when he realized how hard Brian was shaking. “Are you cold?”

Brian nodded, but there were tears falling too. “I want to go home.” He wrapped his arms around himself, looking so vulnerable. Ross felt his heart breaking even more. 

“I know. I know honey.” Ross kissed his head softly. “Arin’ll let us know if we can go. I promise.”

Brian just nodded, leaning his head back on the desk tiredly. “Mm.” 

After a little while, Arin came in. “Hey… get out of here. Get Brian home and make sure he gets rest, okay?”

Ross nodded, helping Brian stand. Brian gave a soft groan, leaning heavily on Ross as he took his first shaky steps. “There we go… you’re doing so good, honey.”

“I’ll come with you.” Arin moved to Brian’s other side to make sure he didn’t fall on the way out. 

It was slow going, Brian so tired and shaky that he just couldn’t walk very fast. His already flushed face turned darker red when he felt people looking at him. He kept his head down, frustrated as he held on to Ross’s sleeve. “You’re okay honey. Just keep going…” Arin and Ross got him outside and he got in Ross’s car, wrapping himself in Arin’s sweatshirt. 

Arin gently brushed hair away from Brian’s face, sighing. “I’m sorry you feel like this, buddy. Feel better soon, and drink plenty and rest. You look beat.”

Brian quietly thanked him, half asleep in the seat. Ross smiled a little, thanking Arin and getting in. “I’m gonna call Dan and let him know. Maybe he can pick up soup or something when he’s on his way home.”

“If he comes home,” Brian mumbled bitterly, curled in on himself.

“What do you mean?” Ross looked over, frowning.

“He’s never home anymore. It’s probably just a matter of time before he moves out.” Brian crossed his arms, staring out the window.

Ross didn’t say anything to that. Brian… really wasn’t wrong. Ross had been over to their house a few times over the last month or so, mostly to watch movies and cuddle on the couch with Brian, but Dan had been there once. He and Barry had been dating several years, and it didn’t seem far fetched that they would get engaged, get their own place. Ross felt a weird twinge in his chest, probably sympathy for Brian. 

He called Dan, sighing softly. “Ross? Dude, I’m at work.”

Ross rolled his eyes, the speaker hooked up to the Bluetooth in his car as he drove. “I know. I’m sorry, but… okay, well it’s not an emergency, but Brian’s sick. He’s definitely got a fever and is super exhausted and weak, so I’m gonna get him home. Just wanted you to know.”

“Is it the flu? I don’t think he got a shot for it this year.”

Brian groaned. “Maybe.” He sighed tiredly. “I was thinking about getting one end of the week. A little late, I guess.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. 

Ross smiled a little. “I mean.. better than something like mono.”

Brian rubbed his eyes. “Mm… had that a few years ago. Barry had it, passed it to Dan, then I caught it from Dan.”

Dan gave a small laugh. “Fuck, that was a rough year, huh? I can stop by the store on the way home.”

Brian yawned softly. “That would be great…”

Dan sighed, in the back room of the florist shop he worked in. “Alright, Bri. I’ll get you gatorade and that gross mac and cheese you like. Do you still like the pink gatorade?”

“Uh… pink and the light blue kind.”

“You got it. Rest up, you know where the extra blankets are, and I’ll see you around 5:30, okay?”

“Thanks Dan.”

“No problem buddy. Ross, take care of my boy for me.”

Ross smiled. “You’ve got it. See you later Dan.” He hung up, drumming his fingers against the wheel. He looked over at Brian, who had lightly closed his eyes, frustrated and tired. He gave Brian’s knee a reassuring squeeze. 

The drive was silent the rest of the way, Brian half asleep. Ross squeezed his hand once he pulled in the driveway of Brian and Dan’s house. “Let’s get you inside, okay?”

Brian weakly nodded, unbuckling and slowly getting out. He leaned against the door of the car for a long moment until Ross walked over, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Hand me your keys.” Brian fumbled them out of his pocket, handing them over. 

Ross hummed softly, getting the door open and helping Brian inside. Brian collapsed on the couch, curling up. “‘M gonna stay here.” He hugged a pillow, shivering a little. 

“I know you won’t like this, but maybe you should change. Maybe into a tee shirt or something so you can cool off and bring down your temperature. I can get-“

“No.” Brian’s voice was soft as he pressed his face against the pillow. “I like this sweater.”

Ross sighed. “Okay. Do you have a thermometer somewhere?”

“Bathroom. The drawer under the sink.” He closed his eyes tiredly, letting out a few coughs.

Ross squeezed Brian’s shoulder before heading to the bathroom. He found the thermometer and poked around, finding a bottle of pain meds. He grabbed it, heading back to the living room. 

“Sit up for me.” He sat down on the couch as Brian slowly sat up. He stuck the thermometer in Brian’s mouth, putting the bottle of pain meds on the table. After a minute, the thermometer beeped. “102.7. We should keep an eye on that, okay?”

Brian nodded, laying back down. Ross smiled softly, heading to the kitchen to wash the thermometer and get a glass of water. Brian was hardly awake when he got back. “Ross?”

“What’s up honey?”

“Can you get me a blanket? There’s… there’s a fluffy white one on my bed…”

Ross nodded, getting out a few pills. “Take these. I’ll be back down.”

Brian sat up to take them as Ross headed upstairs. The blanket was near the top of the blanket pile he’d left in bed that morning. He sighed softly. He was worried. 

Brian had laid back down, eyes half closed. He mumbled a faint thanks when Ross covered him in the soft blanket, slowly falling asleep. 

Ross sat on the couch, watching Brian sleep. Which, okay, did feel creepy, but he was worried about his boyfriend, damn it. He ended up watching a movie, curled up on the end of the couch as Brian snored softly, letting out soft coughs in his sleep. 

Brian woke up after a few hours, coughing roughly. He reached for his water, slowly sipping it, eyes bleary as he looked around. “Hey honey… feeling any better?”

Brian shook his head no, shifting to turn around, laying his head on Ross’s lap sleepily, blanket pulled tight around his body. “Everything hurts.”

“I know… I’m sorry.” He stroked Brian’s hair softly, hand sliding down to rub his back. Brian curled up in a ball, leaning into the touch. 

“I’m still tired.”

“Just rest.” He reached for the thermometer after a few minutes, checking his temperature. “It went down a little. Not much, just a couple tenths of a degree, but it’s progress.” 

Brian just coughed in response. He curled up tighter, wincing. Ross stroked his hair softly, humming lowly. Brian snuggled closer, exhausted.

Ross switched the channel to a Disney movie. “Is this the one about the llama?” Brian asked sleepily.

Ross laughed softly. “Mhm. Have you seen it before?”

“When I was babysitting for a friend. Not all the ways through though.” 

Ross smiled. “I’ll get you more water. Just stay here.” He got up and refilled the glass, humming under his breath. When he got back, Brian was half asleep as he watched the movie. When Ross sat back down, Brian curled close, half in his lap. 

That’s what Dan came home to a few hours later, shirt covered in pollen and grocery bags in hand. “Hey Ross. Hey Brian, how are you feeling buddy?”

Brian groaned. “My whole body hurts.”

Dan smiled faintly, handing him a bottle of light blue gatorade. “I got you a bunch. It’ll be in the fridge.”

“You’re the best.” Brian opened it, taking a small sip. He drank quietly, leaning heavily on Ross, who played with his hair gently, smiling. 

“Yeah, I’m amazing.” Dan hummed. “I’ll make something for dinner.” When Brian went into a coughing fit, nearly spilling his Gatorade over himself and Ross, Dan brought a bottle of cough meds. “Take that. I’m going back to the kitchen.”

Brian tried to open the bottle, but was so weak and tired that he just… couldn’t get it open. “Fucking… piece of garbage…”

Ross took it and opened it, measuring out enough of the gross liquid and giving it to Brian. Brian knocked it back, grabbing for his drink. 

Dan brought out two bowls of soup, rolling his eyes when Brian made a face. “Eat it. When did you last eat?”

“...point taken,” Brian muttered, bitterly taking a bite of the soup.

“That was an actual question, you know.”

Brian sighed. “I didn’t eat yesterday. I didn’t feel well.”

Dan frowned. “Right. Well… just eat now, get better, so on and so forth.”

Ross kissed Brian’s head, making him smile faintly as he ate his soup. Ross gave Dan a grateful smile, and they settled down, falling silent and eating. The cough meds started to kick in, leaving Brian sleepy and a little loopy. “I wanna make out with you,” he mumbled to Ross, clinging to him.

Ross blushed bright pink. “I um, I don’t think that’s the best idea right now, Bri.”

Brian huffed, sticking his tongue out. “You’re the worst,” he whined.

Ross looked over at Dan, who was unhelpfully laughing. “Brian, you’re sick. And I don’t want to get sick or make out with someone who is… essentially high right now.”

He pouted, curling up against Ross. “Fine.”

Ross felt his forehead, which was definitely still hot, but had at least cooled down a little compared to earlier. Brian laid down, head on Ross’s lap, legs stretched out across Dan’s. Dan idly patted Brian’s calf, not paying it much mind. After living with him for about a decade, he’d grown used to Brian’s habits. One of which was putting his legs on Dan’s lap. Low contact intimacy, Dan had called it once.

Another couple hours had passed, and Brian was mostly asleep, eyes fluttering shut for a few seconds at a time. Dan got up. “Brian, buddy… you probably want to get to bed if you’re gonna fall asleep again.”

Brian groaned, nuzzling his face against Ross’s thigh. Slowly, Brian was coaxed onto his feet, Dan and Ross each supporting him from the sides. Once he used the bathroom, they guided him slowly up the attic steps. Ross looked at Dan. “Should we help him change?”

Brian lurched away, eyes nervous. “No!”

Dan sighed. “Brian, come on, you’ve been wearing that all day.”

“...no.” He looked down at his hands, tugging at his sweater sleeves.

Dan looked over at Ross. “Can you leave for a couple minutes?”

Ross looked between them, then nodded, heading back downstairs.

By the time he was gone, Brian was slowly taking off his sweater. “He’s gonna have to find out eventually.” Dan said softly, getting out a shirt and pajama pants for Brian.

“I can hide them.” Brian looked at his arms, lined with old scars. It had been years, but they just… didn’t seem to fade.

“Not forever.” Dan sat down on Brian’s bed, setting a hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re sick, but I’m not gonna sugarcoat this. If you ever want to have an open, honest relationship with him, you have to open up to him. You’re so… you. I know you have trouble opening up to people, but Ross is you your boyfriend. Don’t hide from him. He cares about you.” He watched as Brian pulled on the long sleeved blue shirt, expecting Brian’s usual lashing out, but… it didn’t come.

“...you’re right. I’m… I’m not ready though.” Brian looked away, sneezing before looking back at him. “Are you… disappointed in me?”

“God no.” Dan hugged him tight. “I’m not disappointed. I just want you and Ross to be happy, but something’s gotta give to push things along. I know you two haven’t been dating that long, but openness and trust are gonna go a long way. I’m not saying you have to do it today or now or anything like that. Just eventually.”

Brian nodded. “Okay.”

Dan kissed Brian’s forehead quickly. “Finish getting dressed, and I’ll send Ross back up, okay? Tomorrow we can watch awful movies and sleep through half of them. Sound good?”

Brian nodded, slowly getting up to change his pants. “Okay. Thanks Dan.”

The next day, they did. Ross came back over, which made Brian feel just a little better, even with the weight of wanting to open up. Barry came over at one point too, bringing Brian homemade applesauce which was so fucking thoughtful. Barry was a goddamn saint, at least in Brian’s cough syrup-high mind. Having three of the most important people in his life around him really made him feel a little better.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hi welcome to chilis

“Dan, let’s go already!” Brian stood by the door impatiently. He had on his usual teaching outfit, a long sleeve button up and dress pants, except he’d thrown on a blazer and nicer shoes.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Dan stumbled out of the bathroom, hair mostly contained in a ponytail. He’d gotten home late, having been held back at work preparing flower orders. There were at least three weddings in the next week, one of which was Suzy and Holly’s.

Brian watched, half amused as Dan grabbed his jacket, yanking it on at the same time as he tried to put on his shoes, ending up in a heap on the floor. Brian laughed, offering Dan a hand up. “I thought you said you were used to your long ass limbs. I guess you’re still in your baby deer phase.” 

Dan stuck his tongue out, accepting the help up. He sighed as he got on his jacket and shoes on, smiling once he was ready. “Okay, let’s go.”

He followed Brian outside, getting in the passenger seat. Brian drummed his fingers on the steering wheel before starting to drive, humming under his breath. Dan hummed. “So… Ross is picking up Barry, right?”

“Right.” Brian nodded. “And they’re meeting us there.”

“Right.” Dan hummed under his breath. “Who else is gonna be there?”

“Arin and Vernon, and of course they’re bringing Jack, and Suzy’s bringing Holly. They’re gonna be all gross and sappy.”

“What else is new?” Dan laughed. “I’m really excited for their wedding though. It’s about time, huh?”

“Yeah. I can’t believe they were dating for 9 years. And then proposed to each other on the same night. Honestly, though, that’s the gay dream.”

Dan laughed again. “God, it really is.” He smiled, watching out the window with a soft sigh. “So how was your day? I… haven’t really seen you at all. You were gone by the time I was done in the shower.”

Brian shrugged. “It was fine. Last day before winter break, so that’s always fun. I inadvertently started a chess tournament in one my classes, so that’s always fun.” 

Dan laughed. “Ohhhhh my god! You nerd!”

“Shut up.” He laughed. “In my defense one of my students had a chess set with him and challenged me to a game. ...I won.”

“Of course. How many students did you end up playing against?”

“...six. I was only beaten once. She was really good. I think she’s actually the founder of the chess club, so it’s fair.”

“You have so many nerds in your classes, buddy.”

“I teach physics. Of course I have nerds.” He smirked a little. “Back… back when I was still a researcher, I was surrounded by absolute nerds. And now…” He gave a dramatic sigh. “Now I live with a florist.”

Dan made a face at him, giggling. “Excuse you, at least I smell like roses.” 

“You get pollen all over my clothes when you do the laundry. That’s why you’re on permanent sweeping duty.”

“...okay, that’s fair.” 

Brian grinned, messing with the radio and groaning when every station just had Christmas music. “Fuck.”

Dan laughed, reaching over to pat his shoulder as the rest of the drive went by in silence. Brian found himself glancing over at Dan out of the corner of his eye. He looked… really good with his hair pulled back. Brian quickly looked away, shaking his head a little.

When they parked at the chili’s (okay, maybe Brian didn’t need to dress up as much as he had), Dan held up a hand. “Wait, wait, before we go in. I wanna make a bet.”

“...a bet?”

“Mhm. If nobody makes a reference to The Office tonight… I’ll give you 5 bucks.”

“Deal.” Brian nodded. “I have… complete faith that my coworkers won’t stoop that low.” 

“I’m gonna be five dollars richer.” Dan winked, getting out of the car. 

“Sure you are.” He laughed as they headed inside, Barry waving to them. Brian sat down across from him, smiling. “Hey Barry.”

Barry grinned, laughing when Dan kissed the top of his head. “Hey guys. Ross just headed to the bathroom, but he’ll be back.” 

Brian nodded, reaching into his pocket. “Cool. And Happy Hanukkah, Barry.” He handed Barry a small wrapped package.

“Oh! Thank you!” He opened it and grinned. “Oh nice. I’ve been needing a new watch.”

“I remember you mentioning that.” Brian smiled as Barry put on the watch.

“You’re so sweet Brian.” He grinned, eyes bright. And Brian was blushing. Oh no, that wasn’t supposed to be a thing. Barry wasn’t supposed to be cute?

Ross showed up and sat next to Brian, grinning. “Hey.”

Brian gave Ross’s hand a quick squeeze, smiling. “Hi.”

Ross grinned, handing him a small wrapped box. “Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.”

Brian laughed a little, unwrapping it. “Thank you Ross.” It was a fancy pen with music notes engraved on it. “I love this.”

“Oh good.” He grinned. 

“I have a gift for you, but it’s still in my car. I can totally give it to you before we leave.”

Ross kissed his cheek, making Brian blush. “Yeah, that works.” He grinned. 

It had been about two months, but Brian was easily flustered by public affection. Ross thought it was cute. Brian made a face at him, smiling a little before picking up a menu. “Hey dorks.” Suzy ruffled Brian’s hair as she passed, sitting down next to him.

Brian sighed. “Come on, my hair was finally looking good.”

“Too bad you’re cute”. Holly grinned, sitting down.

“Hey, tone down the heterosexuality, please.”

“Of course, my apologies.” They were both very serious for a moment before their eyes met and they started laughing.

“Hi Holly, how are you?”

“I’m good! It’s been awhile. I heard you were sick last month.”

“Yeah, just the flu. I’m fine though, I bounce back quick. How are the birds?”

“Good! I recently rescued another, but she’s got another home lined up once her foot heals.”

Suzy laughed. “Which is good. Holly has… a lot of birds.”

“They love you, Suze.”

“Paco loves me. The others want to peck out my eyes while I sleep.”

“Which is why I’m the big spoon. To protect you.” She squeezed Suzy’s hand over the table, laughing.

They sat and chatted more, and a few minutes after they’d given their orders, Vernon and Arin came in, followed closely by Jack. “Running a little late?” Brian raised an eyebrow at them.

“Traffic.” Vernon blurted it just a little too quickly, face flushing pink. “There… there was traffic.”

“Uh huh… sure.” He looked up at Jack. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Brian Wecht.”

“I’m Jack Walsh, Vernon’s husband. Nice to meet you.” Jack smiled, shaking Brian’s hand.

“You too. I’ve heard quite a bit about you from Vernon and Arin.” He grinned. 

“Aw, my babes talk about me?” He laughed, looking over at Vernon and Arin. “Cute.”

Arin winked and Vernon blushed which was pretty par for the course. Jack laughed, moving to sit down next to Arin. 

Barry was having a lively conversation with Ross about… something. Brian didn’t really have any idea what was going on. “What are they on about?” He asked Dan. 

Dan shrugged, taking a sip of his lemonade. “No idea. They’re very…” He looked up and Brian jolted in surprise when Ross suddenly yelled something about ‘order of discovery’. “Loud.”

“Mhm.” Brian nodded, laughing a little. He idly listened to Barry and Ross’s conversation, which he came to figure out was about the order of Pokémon in the… something. He was mostly clueless, but it was fun to listen to anyway.

He idly sipped his beer, laughing when he ended up being pulled into the conversation. “Uh… obviously Mew should be number 150.” Before they could say anything, he kept talking. “But Mewtwo shouldn’t be 151. That should be Mewone.”

Ross paused for a moment. “Brian, honey, you’re great, but you are… absolutely useless.” 

“That’s what I’ve been telling him!” Dan giggled, holding up a hand to high five Ross over the table, both of them laughing. 

Brian huffed. “Hey, don't agree with him.”

Barry giggled. “I think you’re very smart Brian. You just don’t know shit about Pokémon.”

“Excuse you, my favorite is Cascoon. I know plenty.”

“...you like Cascoon? Oh Brian.”

Brian made a face at him. “Cascoon is great, you guys are just mean.”

“Honey, Cascoon is… not great.” Ross patted his hand. 

“I refuse to listen to this slander on a perfectly good boy and friend.”

“Okay.” Barry patted Brian’s hand. 

“Stop patting my hand.” Brian made a face, pulling his hand away.

Dan giggled. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about.”

“They’re telling me that my favorite Pokémon is bad.”

“What? Nooo don’t be mean to my boy.” Dan gave an exaggerated pout. 

Ross sighed. “So what’s yours?”

“My favorite? Oh, I like stantler!” Dan smiled brightly. 

Barry and Ross looked at each other. “I mean… better than Cascoon.”

“Alright jerks, what are you favorites?”

Barry grinned. “Ditto. He’s squishy and great.”

Ross laughed. “I like eevee. The Pokémon of potential.”

“Shut up, nerd.” Brian poked Ross in the hip. 

Ross huffed, making a face at him as their food arrived. Brian winked, thanking the waitress and taking another sip of his beer. 

Dan smiled brightly when he was given his chicken fingers, which made Brian smile fondly, shaking his head. He lightly kicked Dan under the table. “Nerd.” 

“Hey, just because you can’t find the absolute joy in chicken fingers.” Dan stuck his tongue out and started eating happily.

Brian sighed, laughing a little. Ross squeezed Brian’s hand for a moment under the table before digging into his food with a smile. 

It was quiet for a little bit as they all ate, occasionally picking up a short conversation between bites. The chatter around the table was starting to pick up again when the superintendent stood up. He leaned over to Ross. “I’m supposed to know his name. Do you know his name?”

Ross gave a shrug as the superintendent started talking. “Good evening teachers, administrators, friends and family. Thanks for coming to our annual Christmas dinner.” Dan and Brian made eye contact and simultaneously rolled their eyes. “I just wanted to wish you all a merry Christmas, and I feel a little bit of god in this chili’s tonight.”

Brian let out a low groan, digging out his wallet and handing Dan a five dollar bill. Dan winked at him, grinning brightly. When he stopped talking, Brian sighed. “I had faith in my coworkers.”

“Sorry buddy. But I win.” He grinned.

“You suck.”

“Did Barry tell you?”

Brian nearly choked on his drink, Suzy laughing next to him. “Nice one!” She held up her hand to high five Dan. 

Dan giggled, winking. “Thank you Suzy.”

Brian sighed again. He’d been sighing a lot lately, but all his friends were just the worst. 

They were getting ready to leave not long later, and Brian reached over to grab Ross’s hand. “Hey, I have your gift in my car. Can you come out with me?”

He grinned. “Of course sweetheart.”

Brian looked over at Dan. “We’re going out to the car.”

Dan waved him off. “Be our in a few.”

Brian led Ross outside, grinning. “I think I found you the perfect thing.” He unlocked the car and handed him a small wrapped box. “You’ll love it.”

Ross laughed. “Calm down, I’m opening it.” In the box was a mug that said “fuck off, I’m animating”. Ross grinned. “Brian, it’s amazing! Thank you.” He pulled Brian into a kiss, both of them smiling. 

It slowly deepened, Brian ending up pinned to his car, Ross bent just a little to meet his lips easier. Ross didn’t exactly tower over him, but he was definitely taller. 

And it was definitely hot, having him nudging Brian’s chin up slightly, pressing close against him. 

Brian’s heart was racing in his chest. They weren’t close the streetlights, and no one would be able to recognize them unless they got up close, but it was thrilling nonetheless. 

Ross jolted away from Brian when someone cleared their throat. He wiped his lips, looking up. It was just Dan, smirking. “Hey there.”

Brian blushed brightly. “Hey.”

Ross laughed, embarrassed. “I’ll uh… I’ll get going then.” He pressed one more kiss to Brian’s lips, much more chaste. “Barry do you need a lift?”

Barry shook his head. “Nah, I’m going with Dan.”

“Cool. See you guys at the wedding.” Ross waved, grinning as he headed off to his car. 

Brian smiled, waving back to him and sighing. Dan laughed. “Alright dork, I’ll drive.” He held out his hand for Brian’s keys, which he quickly passed over, getting in the backseat. He let out a long sigh, watching out the window and smiling. He was falling in love.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW FOR THIS CHAPTER: TALK OF PAST SELF HARM AND SELF HARM SCARS  
> Suzy and Holly are finally getting married. And Ross and Brian have a deep heart to heart talk.

Speaking of love…

Two days later was the wedding. Brian was sitting on his couch, texting Suzy, who was super anxious.

_To Suzy: **I thought we talked about not getting anxious today**_   
_From Suzy: **We did. But that was.. before today. It’s today now. And I’m suffering**_   
_To Suzy: **I feel like suffering is a strong word**_   
_From Suzy: **I’m having strong feelings, dickbag**_   
_To Suzy: **… okay, fair enough.**_   
_From Suzy: **Will you come over? I know it’s not your type of thing, but it’s bad luck for me to see Holly before the wedding and Dan’s busy helping get things set up.**_   
_To Suzy: **I’ll be over in 10**_

He sighed and got up, making sure he had everything. He hummed under his breath, grabbing his keys and shoving his phone in his pocket. He was dressed up in a nice suit with a blue tie that Dan said brought out his eyes. Brian still wasn’t sure what that actually meant. 

As promised, he showed up to Suzy and Holly’s house 10 minutes later. Holly had spent the night at Ross’s apartment, and he was driving her to the church when it was time. 

Suzy was curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. “Brian…”

“Hey Suzy.” He sat down next to her. “Doing okay?”

“I’m fucking fantastic, can’t you tell?”

He frowned. “Are you getting cold feet?”

“What? God no. I love her so fucking much. I sometimes forget that we’re not already married.” She sighed. “I’m just scared I’m gonna fuck up.”

“Alright well… who are you marrying?” 

She raised an eyebrow. “...Holly Conrad?”

“As long as you know that, there’s no way you can fuck up.” He rested a hand on her back. “Suzy, it’s all gonna be okay. You’ve been planning for months, in love for a decade, and now all you have to do is say your vows and put on the rings.”

She looked up at him and just slumped against him after a long moment. “You’re a really good friend. I know we give each other so much shit, but you’re one of my closest friends and I really do love you.” She pulled his face down and kissed his cheek, smiling softly. 

“Love you too Suzy.” He smiled, half hugging her and looking up at a soft ‘mrrrp’. “Hi there Mimi.” The cat jumped up on the couch, head butting his arm. 

Suzy laughed, reaching over to pet her. “Hey honey… who’s my good kitty?” Mimi leaned her head against Suzy’s hand, purring.

Brian smiled, but dropped his hand from her back. “Suzy, we should get you over there soon.”

Suzy nodded, getting up. “Right. I need to finish my makeup and get my dress on. Can you help me?”

“Of course, yeah.” He followed her upstairs. Suzy hummed as she leaned over the sink in the bathroom, working on finishing her makeup. She was humming and smiling brightly, so Brian figured he was doing his job as Friend of the Bride right.

She took a deep breath as she stepped out of the bathroom. “Alright, well, all good friends have to see each other almost nude at some point, right?”

“I’ll look at you as little as possible.” He smiled, carefully picking up her dress and helping her get it out of the dress bag. 

She smiled, untying her robe and putting it on the bed. “Alright, dress time.” She stepped into the dress and pulled it up over herself. “Zip it for me?”

“Already on it.” Brian carefully hooked and zipped the dress, smiling. “You look amazing Suze.”

“Thanks Brian…” She went back into the bathroom to get her veil, practically bouncing with excitement now. “I’m getting married!” 

“You are.” He smiled, watching her put her hair in a ponytail. Even though she was getting her hair done at the church, she still looked amazing. “I’m proud of you, Suzy.”

She laughed, pulling him close to kiss his cheek. “Thank you. Merry Christmas Brian.”

“Merry Christmas Suzy. Now. What do you say we go get you married to one of the gayest women I know?”

Suzy laughed. “Let’s do it!”

The next few hours were a blur. Brian drove Suzy to the little church she and Holly were getting married in, he’d gotten pulled aside by Dan to help finish setting up flowers, pulled aside again to help Barry finalize the wedding ceremony, and then they were sitting in the pews, waiting for it to begin. 

Ross squeezed his hand as the organ music started, grinning as they stood up. Holly began walking down the aisle, following the flower girl, her friend’s daughter. The little girl ran to her mom, dropping the basket at the front. Barry hid a laugh with his hand, picking up the basket and putting it aside, out of the way.

Then Suzy began making her way down the aisle, escorted by her dad. Holly covered her mouth with one hand, tears in her eyes. Suzy’s hands were shaking, and was clearly nervous, but as soon as Holly took her hands, it all faded away. 

“Hi,” Holly whispered. 

“Hi.” Suzy smiled. “You’re… you’re fucking stunning right now.”

Holly laughed, squeezing Suzy’s hands. “You’re absolutely beautiful. Can’t wait to finally be your wife.”

Barry lightly cleared his throat, smiling at them. “Friends, family, loved ones, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of love between Holly Conrad and Suzy Berhow. You have all travelled to be here today, whether you come from a few blocks down the road or across an ocean. They thank you for your support on this special day.”

“I’ve personally known Suzy and Holly for about 7 years now. I met them as the boyfriend of the roommate of a coworker of Suzy’s. It may sound like a leap for us to have met, but over the years, I’ve come to consider them some of my closest friends.” He smiled at them, glancing down at the notecard he had with him. 

“I’ve watched the two of these lovely ladies grow their relationship to so much more. They were dating for about two and a half years when I met them, and nearly eight years later, they’re standing stronger than ever, so in love. And I’m so proud to stand here as a close friend and the officiant of their wedding.”

“Today, Suzy and Holly will take each other’s hands in marriage, a union of love, love that is open and kind, a love that is trusting, love that holds a firm acceptance for who the other is. A love that has been building for over a decade and will continue to build for the rest of their lives. This marriage will allow them to continue to grow as people and in love. This will be a momentous occasion in their lives, a day they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. Now, Holly’s friend Jimmy will be doing a short reading.”

Jimmy got up, smiling at Holly. Holly grinned, pulling him close to kiss his cheek, whispering a soft thank you. Jimmy read something, Brian was pretty sure it was quotes from books he didn’t recognize, but whatever it was, it seemed to be very touching to Suzy and Holly.

Barry smiled softly. “Suzy, do you take Holly to be you lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in heath, through the good and the bad, even when her birds are being annoying?”

Suzy laughed, tears in her eyes. “I do.”

“Holly, do you take Suzy to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, through the good and the bad, even when she brings home taxidermied bugs?”

“I do.” Holly grinned brightly.

Barry grinned. “Alright, good. Suzy, would you like to say your vows?”

Suzy nodded, taking a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, definitely.” She blinked. “Where did I…” Barry handed her a paper. “Right, thanks.” She blushed, but Holly giggled and kissed her cheek. Suzy unfolded the paper and smiled, taking a deep breath. “Holly Conrad. I love you so much, and I have for a long time. You’re such a force of positivity in my life, and every time I see you, my day just gets a little bit better. You make me want to be a better person, and you remind me just how kind people can be. I promise to be the best wife and partner I can be from today until my final breath. I want to stay by your side forever.” She smiled, pausing to wipe away a few tears, laughing. “I said I wouldn’t cry, but this is like the fifth time.” She cleared her throat. “I am fully devoted to you, Holly. For now, and forever.”

Holly smiled, tears in her eyes too. Barry smiled softly. “Holly, would you like to say your vows?”

She nodded, taking a paper out of her pocket (because of course Holly would have pockets in her wedding dress). “Suzy, you are radiant and kind and smart. I feel honored to be able to wake up next to you in the mornings, to be able to kiss you when you come home, to fall asleep wrapped in your arms. I want to be with you forever. I will love you forever and support you in all you do. Life is so much better with someone you love by your side… and you’ve made my life so much better just by being in it.” She squeezed Suzy’s hand tightly, looking back at her paper. “When you proposed to me, I thought my heart might burst. Knowing that I get to marry you, am going to be able to call you my wife… it’s the greatest feeling in the world. I love you so much, and I’m so happy to be marrying you.”

Barry smiled. “Present the rings. Wedding rings are a physical symbol of the bond of marriage. The circle represents the unbroken bond between these two today and forever.” Vernon presented the rings with a smile. Barry gave Suzy one of them. “Suzy, as you place the ring on Holly’s finger, repeat after me. This ring symbolizes my love for you.”

“This ring symbolizes my love for you.” Tears were dripping softly down Suzy’s cheeks as she slipped the ring on Holly’s finger.

“And the commitments we are making today.”

“And the commitments we are making today.”

Barry gave Holly the other ring. “Holly, as you place this ring on Suzy’s finger, repeat after me. This ring symbolizes my love for you.”

“This ring symbolizes my love for you.”

“And the commitments we are making today.”

“And the commitments we are making today.” Holly grinned, squeezing Suzy’s hands once the ring was on.

“Suzy and Holly. You came here today to join together in front of friends and family, to declare your love together and form a union. And now by the power vested in me and the state of California, I declare you wife and wife.” He smiled. “You may now kiss.”

Suzy laughed, pulling Holly close. Holly held Suzy’s face softly, kissing her. There were tears and smiled as they kissed, finally married. “I love you,” Suzy whispered.

“I love you too, wife.” Holly laughed, taking her hand as they walked back down the aisle. Once they were in the back, Holly pulled Suzy into a hug. “We’re married!”

Suzy laughed, holding her close. “We are. You’re my wife!”

“You’re my wife!” Holly kissed her happily, all smiles and laughter. “I love you so much Suzy. I’m ecstatic to finally be your wife and to finally get those tax breaks!”

Suzy laughed. “Oh you know I’m only marrying you for tax benefits.”

Holly giggled, lightly shoving Suzy’s arm. “Who agreed to drive us to the reception?”

“I can make Brian do it.” She grinned.

Brian smiled as he showed up. “What are you making me do?”

“Oh hey Brian! Drive us to the reception?” Suzy grinned. 

“Ugh I guess.” He smiled. “Hi Holly, how are you today?”

“Pretty good, pretty good. Got married to a cute girl today, so it’s going good for me.” She grinned.

“Glad to hear it. I mean, as far as women go, I suppose Suzy is fairly good looking.”

Holly swatted at his arm, laughing. “How dare you. She’s absolutely stunning.”

“Maybe you’re just gay.”

“Maybe so.” Brian laughed. “Do you guys want to hang out and talk to people, or just go over now?”

Before they could answer, Dan came over and squeezed Brian’s shoulder. “I’ve gotta run and make sure the flowers are perfect. Barry’s getting a ride from Ross, and I’ll see you over there!” Dan grinned at him, heading out of the church. 

“...bye?” Brian blinked, watching as Dan hurried out.

Holly giggled. “Maybe we should hang out here a little longer if that’s what the situation is.”

Ross came to the back, smiling. “Congratulations ladies. In the eyes of the government, you’re officially gay.”

Holly laughed, moving to hug Ross tight. “Thanks Ross.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He grinned. “I’ll never forget your anniversary, though.”

“Why do you think I wanted a Christmas wedding?” Holly winked before moving back to Suzy’s side. “I’ll never accidentally forget.”

Suzy grinned. “You’re a genius songbird. And I love you.”

“Love you too.” She kissed Suzy sweetly, holding her close.

Ross wrapped an arm around Brian’s shoulders. “Your best man speech ready?”

He laughed a little. “Pretty much. I mean… I’m not exactly a best man. Suzy just asked me to do a speech.”

“You’re my best man.” Ross grinned.

“You have no idea how gay that sounds.”

“Correction. I have every idea how gay that sounded.” Ross kissed his cheek with a laugh. “Why do you think I said that?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Brian rolled his eyes, wrapping his arm around Ross’s waist. He stepped closer to him, sighing. He didn’t know too many people. He wasn’t exactly the most social person. It was a wonder he’d even befriended Ross.

Ross kissed his head softly, picking up a conversation with someone Brian didn’t know. It made him feel kind of insecure, and he found himself slowly drifting away from Ross and leaning against a wall, messing with his phone.

After a little while, Holly was walking over to him. “Hey, ready to head over to the reception?”

Brian nodded, putting his phone in his pocket. “Yeah, definitely. Let me just tell Ross real quick.” He walked towards Ross, who was in a conversation with someone Brian did… not recognize at all. He stood there awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt, but wasn’t noticed.

Holly sighed softly, squeezing his shoulder. “Ross? Hey, sorry to interrupt, but Brian’s gonna drive me and Suzy to the reception, okay?”

Ross smiled. “Yeah, alright. See you over there Bri!” He kissed Brian’s cheek.

Brian smiled at him, but gave a soft sigh as he turned away. “Alright, uh, let's just head out.”

Suzy glances over at Holly, frowning, but she just squeezed her hand, kissing her cheek as Brian led them out to his car. Holly went to say something, but seemed to think better of it.

Brian smiled a little. “Ready for the reception? I’m sure it’ll look great since Dan is in charge decorating.”

“I’m sure it will. I have the utmost faith in him.” Suzy giggled, holding Holly’s hand tight, smiling. “I’m so excited! I’m married now, and now I get to spend the evening with some of my best friends in the world!” 

Brian smiled. “I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun.”

“Oh don’t be like that, Bri. You’ll have fun too!”

Brian didn’t respond to that, but smiled, glancing back at them as he drove. They were talking softly now, laughing and kissing gently every few moments. Brian wondered if he’d ever have anything like that.

Of course, he’d have to open up to Ross and all that garbage. Which wouldn’t be easy.

Brian didn’t have much to say, so just listened to their quiet chatter as he drove. It was nice to see how in love they were. He was so happy for them. They were some of his best friends in the world.

He parked at the ballroom they’d booked for the reception and smiled. “Ready for your reception ladies?”

“Hell yeah we are.” Suzy grinned and got out of the car, holding out a hand for Holly, who smiled gratefully and took it carefully as she got out, holding up her dress so it wouldn’t drag across the ground. They headed inside, Brian following from behind.

Dan was standing inside, and Brian swore the breath was knocked out of him for a second. Dan had taken off his suit jacket and tied his hair back. Brian quickly looked away, biting his lip. He shouldn’t look at Dan like that. There was no reason to, and it just wasn’t right.

“Hey!” Dan grinned. “Well, we just got finished setting up so… what do you think?”

Suzy hurried forward and hugged Dan tightly. “It looks amazing Dan! Thank you so much!”

“Of course! Anything for my two favorite gay ladies.”

Holly laughed, giving Dan a hug too. “It looks great. You did such a great job.”

Dan grinned. “Well don’t sound too surprised, now.”

“I know, I know. Never doubt you because you’re incredibly smart and handsome?”

“Exactly!” Dan grinned. “So dinner is being cooked and should be ready in a half hour… around 8 is when you guys want to do your first dance, right? Brian, you ready for that?”

Brian nodded. “Yeah.” Holly and Suzy were having most of the music played by a dj, but had asked Dan to sing for their first dance, and Dan had asked Brian to provide piano music for him. So that’s how it would be happening. Brian looked around the ballroom, finding the table he’d be sitting at for dinner.

He sat down and just watched quietly as Dan talked with Suzy and Holly. Watched as more people showed up. He sighed, messing with his phone again, playing a dumb game to just pass the time. Maybe someday he’d be more social, but apparently that day wasn’t today.

Ross sat next to him and grinned. “Hey Bri. It’s gonna be fun, hm?”

“I’m sure it will be.” Brian nodded, smiling a little at Ross. “Dinner sounds good. It’s some kind of pasta.”

Ross nodded, reaching over to hold Brian’s hand over the table, thumb rubbing softly over his knuckles. “I’m definitely looking forward to it. I didn’t have much to eat today since I was so busy helping Holly get ready.” Brian nodded in agreement, squeezing Ross’s hand softly.

Dinner came and went, Ross and Brian making idle conversation with Arin, Jack, and Vernon. It was nice, the room mostly lit with fairy lights. Brian found himself nervously bouncing his leg as he ate. As dinner was winding down, Suzy caught his eye and nodded, and he took a deep breath, downing the last of his wine before slowly standing.

Ross grinned at him, hitting his knife against his wine glass to get everyone’s attention. Brian shot a playful glare at him, but cleared his throat nervously. “Uh…hi. This is… this is way easier in front of students. So Suzy and Holly aren’t really doing the whole wedding party thing, but I was asked to do the equivalent of a best man’s speech.” He got the notecards he’d jotted down out of his pocket, taking a deep breath. “So… hi, I’m Brian, one of Suzy’s coworkers. I met Suzy my second year of teaching high school. She was right out of college and had so much enthusiasm. It was sickening.” 

That got a laugh. “But we had the same lunch break, and I’d see her almost every day because of that. She managed to rope me into a few conversations, and at one point, mentioned her girlfriend. That’s really what initially got me to cave. I was fairly deep in the closet at that point, and had hardly admitted to myself that I’m gay, but she was so open and proud that it really helped me take pride in myself. Suzy has been a close friend of mine for years, and I’d trust her with just about anything. 

“I met Holly about a year after meeting Suzy. Despite the fact that I’d become fairly good friends with Suzy, meeting Holly wasn’t planned. I met her at a restaurant when I was picking up takeout. Suzy and Holly were there, and I ended up standing in that restaurant for nearly half an hour, just talking to them. My roommate wasn’t very happy that our food was cold however.” He. Smiled. “But despite that, I’ve come to consider Suzy and Holly to be two of my absolute closest friends. I wish Suzy and Holly the utmost happiness in their future, and I hope that their relationship stays as strong as it’s always been. Unless it gets stronger of course.” He smiled, sitting back down.

Ross grinned, squeezing Brian’s hand. “That was great, babe!”

“You think so?”

“Absolutely.” He kissed Brian’s cheek, grinning. Brian squeezed his hand back, sighing as a few more people gave speeches. Then he was being pulled away by Dan, who was grinning at him.

Brian sat down at the piano and looked up at Dan, setting up the music. Dan winked at him, smiling and squeezing his shoulder. Dan switched on the microphone and grinned. “And now if the two lovely ladies could come down to the dance floor for their first dance as wives.” Holly grinned and took Suzy’s hand, her heels clicking softly on the ground as they walked down to the dance floor. Dan smiled brightly at them. “Now for the most cheesy and beloved song of all time.” He looked back at Brian and nodded, his cue to start playing. Dan leaned forward to the mic as Brian started to play. “Wise men say… only fools rush in…”

Suzy smiled brightly at Holly, leaning down to kiss her softly as they began to dance, Dan’s voice filling the room. Holly’s hands rested on Suzy’s hips as she returned the kiss, the two dancing with bright smiles. 

Brian glanced over at Ross, smiling a little when he saw that Ross was watching him. Ross liked watching him play piano for some reason. Brian didn’t understand it, but it was nice. His eyes fell back to the sheet music, and he ignored the part of his mind that just wanted to listen to Dan sing.

The song wasn’t that long. At least not compared to the eight minute long ballad he and Dan were working on. For some reason. But when the song was finished, Dan gave a quick bow before speaking into the mic. “Congratulations to Mrs. Berhow and Mrs. Conrad! We at Ninja Sex Party wish you the best.” He winked, grinning as he and Brian walked off.

Ross caught Brian in a kiss, grinning brightly. “You did amazing!”

“You think so?” Brian smiled.

“Absolutely.” Ross grinned.

Brian smiled as music started playing, something by a band he only half recognized. Suzy walked up to him, grinning. “Hey Brian, wanna dance with me?”

“I would love to.” He smiled, letting her pull him over to the dance floor to dance.

“So…?”

“So?” He raised an eyebrow, being pulled around as they danced.

“Things are going pretty well with you and Ross, yeah?”

“Well… yeah. It’s been like 2 months now.”

“Have you two… you know?” She grinned.

Brian rolled his eyes. “He hasn’t even seen me without a shirt, Suzy.”

“You can still do stuff with a shirt on. I’ve never seen you without a shirt.”

“Why would you see me without a shirt?” He pointedly ignored the first part.

“I mean, we live in California. You’d think I’d have seen you without a shirt for like… swimming or something.”

“I don’t like being shirtless.” He shrugged, spinning her. “I don’t think I’m ready to go that far, but… I’m thinking about inviting him over tonight. I figure Dan’s gonna end up going home with Barry, and it’d be nice to not be alone.”

“Aw, gay.” She giggled. “I’m happy for you. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the next wedding!”

“I’m not sure about that.” He laughed a little. “I’m not sure I’m even close to be ready for that.”

“Give it a few years.” She winked at him. “You deserve happiness bud.”

Brian rolled his eyes dramatically, but smiled, hugging her when the song ended. “...thanks.”

Suzy laughed. “Of course bud. You’re one of my best friends too. Love ya.”

“Love you too.” He smiled, heading back over to Ross. “Hey… want to dance with me?”

“I’d be honored.” Ross grinned, taking the hand Brian had offered to him.

Brian found himself smiling and laughing a lot more than usual as he danced with Ross, feeling like the weight of the world was off his shoulders. It was… it was really nice actually.

As he sat down with Ross after the cake was brought out, he took off his suit jacket and sighed. “I really am getting old, huh?”

Ross laughed. “Aw, come on, you’re not even 40!”

“I’m 37. I’d say that cuts it close enough. I’m old, my time is up. I’m past the point of Grindr.”

“Yeah, but only for the last two months.”

“Nah, I hadn’t gotten anything from that app since well before I met you.”

“Wait, you seriously had a Grindr account?”

“Yeah. Listen, I deleted it after I found one of my old students on it. I mean, he’d graduated like 3 years before I found him, but after that I never opened the app again.”

Ross started laughing. “Brian! Oh my god, you’re a player!”

“Am not! I only ever got like… 2 dates out of it. One guy was married. The other was a jerk.”

“Woah, one was married?” Ross giggled.

Brian took a sip of his water. “I matched with some guy on there, he took me to a nice restaurant and I thought we were hitting it off. Turns out he was a… not great person, and halfway through our date, his wife came storming up to the table and went off on him. So I was there and just wanted to be consumed by the earth, and it was… not fun. I ended up taking the bill. It was… not one of my best moments. But Barry and Dan took me with them to get ice cream so… not a terrible ending to the night.” Brian laughed. “I thought I was going to die, man.”

“...is it possible to literally die of embarrassment?”

“I mean… probably. A high enough level of stress can cause heart attacks. And I read about this thing called broken heart syndrome a few years back. It’s when you experience enough shock that part of your heart like… swells up or something and it keeps it from beating right. And that can kill you.” Brian shrugged, using a spoon to poke at the ice in his glass of water. “So… I guess so.”

Ross nodded, reaching over to rest his hand on top of Brian’s. “Well, I’m definitely glad you didn’t die of embarrassment.”

“Since it means I got to meet you, I’m glad too.” He smiled. After a moment, he spoke up again. “Would you want to come over tonight?”

Ross blushed. “What?”

“I.. I mean because Dan’s probably gonna end up going home tonight and being alone kind of sucks because the vents get loud at night and I get all panicky…”

“I’d love to.” Ross grinned brightly.

“Great.” Brian got up to kiss Ross softly. “I uh… I’m glad you want to.”

Ross smiled, squeezing Brian’s hand tight. “Wonderful.”

About two more hours passed, and the reception was winding down, people steadily leaving. Holly and Brian were discussing the finer points of what dragons would be like if they were real, or at least if they existed the way fantasy portrayed them, when Ross walked over, looking pretty tired. “Hey Bri? You almost ready to go?”

Brian looked up. “Hm? Oh, yeah, sorry babe. Holly did you-?”

Holly waved him off. “We’ll continue this another time. Deal?”

Brian laughed. “Absolutely we are. Thanks for inviting us.”

“Dude, you’re one of my best friends. Ross too! Thanks for coming. And for playing piano for the first dance. Is there a chance Ninja Sex Party is playing again soon?” She grinned as Brian picked up his suit jacket. 

“Actually, Jack got us a gig at his bar, end of January. I can text you the details when you’re back from your honeymoon.” He laughed, giving her a hug. “Congratulations, though, seriously.”

“Thanks Brian.” She pulled Ross into a hug. “You too. You’re still willing to watch the birds for us, right?”

“Of course. I’ll drag Brian with me if I have too.” Ross grinned. “Have a great honeymoon. See you New Years.”

Holly grinned, waving as they walked out. Brian slid his hand into Ross’s. “So, you’re on bird duty?”

“Yeah. I guess she trusts me, huh?” Ross laughed as he was led to Brian’s car. “You ever get stuck with it?”

“A few years ago, yeah. She was off to some convention and Suzy had a family emergency. I obtained… quite a few scratches. Those fuckers have sharp talons.”

“They really do.” Ross grinned as he pulled on his seatbelt.

Brian’s gut was twisting as he drove. He didn’t know if Ross expected tonight to lead to sex or anything, but he was planning on opening up to him. It wasn’t going to be easy, but getting his PhD wasn’t easy and he’d done that. His eyes kept darting over to Ross, who was looking up at the moon.

He was stunning and Brian’s heart seemed to skip a beat. 

He pulled into the driveway and took a deep breath to steady himself, turning off the car and getting out, unlocking the front door. Ross pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “I’m going to use the bathroom real quick.”

Brian nodded, watching as Ross made his way down the hall. He took his shoes off and paced nervously. How was he supposed to go about this? Did he just blurt it out? How did normal people have conversations?

He was tugged from his thoughts by the bathroom door opening. “You can head up to my room if you want. Feel free to steal pajamas.”

Ross laughed softly. “Thanks Brian.”

After using the bathroom, Brian slowly made his way up the stairs, heart pounding. Ross was pulling on one of Brian’s tee shirts and had on a pair of flannel pajama pants, and Brian paused a moment. He just looked… really good.

“You just gonna stand there and stare at me?” Ross sat on the bed with a grin.

**TW BEGINS HERE UNTIL END OF CHAPTER**

“Oh, right, sorry…” Brian cleared his throat, taking off his jacket and putting it on a hanger, mentally reminding himself to get to the dry cleaners. He undid his tie and could feel Ross’s eyes watching his every movement. And then he began to unbutton his shirt, hands shaking just a little.

“...Brian?” Ross’s eyes were wide, and Brian knew he was staring at his arms and at the scars that crisscrossed along his wrists and up to near his elbows. “What… when did…?”

“They’re old.” Brian nervously rubbed his right hand over his left arm. “I’m sure you have… questions, but let me get changed first.” He knew Ross was still staring, expression a cross of horrified and worried. The same damn expression Dan had when he’d found out years ago. Brian changed into plaid pajama pants and reached for a long sleeved shirt, but paused and grabbed a plain blue short sleeved shirt and pulled it on.

“When did this happen?” Ross’s voice was quiet as Brian sat down next to him. 

“I’ve… I've been clean for a little more than 7 years. They’re all old. There… there used to be more but a lot have pretty much faded away. A lot of these are faint though, I guess.”

“Why?”

Brian gave a weak laugh. “That’s… kind of a loaded question. I was in a bad place for… for a long time. I felt lost after I finished college, and then… then I went through some shit and lost people I cared about, lost my job, and I’d already been spiraling in self hatred for years. And I just needed… I needed to distract myself from how bad it hurt. 

“And I thought if I could make it hurt worse on the outside, everything would feel better on the inside. And it was dumb and reckless, but I thought that… that it would help. But instead, it was like throwing gasoline on a fire instead of water. I got worse instead of better. I lost a lot of weight. I got a job that paid pretty well, but… I don’t remember a whole lot. I was being eaten alive by the cycle of… of hating myself, hurting myself to ignore the hate, hating myself more because of it, and it just went around.” 

Brian knew there were tears falling down his face by now, but pushed on. “I met Dan in a bar. I was in a million pieces at that point and didn’t think I could drag myself back together. And… maybe I didn’t. I still think I’m broken sometimes. But he helped me try to rebuild myself.” He wiped away his tears, taking a shaky breath as he tried to blink back more. 

“Brian… look at me, please.”

This was it. Ross was going to break up with him. Brian felt something in his chest seize as his body tried to force a sob, but instead, he choked it down as another wave of tears streamed down his face. “Ross… I…” He slowly looked up, not meeting Ross’s eyes.

“I love you. I love you, Brian. And if you have a tough past, that’s something that’s built you into who you are. It absolutely sucks, and I hate hearing that you had to go through that. But I’m here by your side through anything else you go through in life. Because I love you. And I’m so proud of you for making it to where you are now.”

Brian’s body betrayed him, and he let out a soft sob, pulling Ross close and hiding his face in his shoulder. “I love you too… I love you too, Ross… fuck…”

Ross held him tight, kissing his head. “Deep breaths… you’re so wonderful Brian… come on, breathe with me…”

Brian was shaking in Ross’s arms, wiping his eyes as Ross talked softly to him, so gentle and so kind… it almost ached. He was slumped against Ross, so tired from such a long day and from this emotional breakdown. “Thank you…”

“I love you.” Ross guided Brian to lay down, pulling the blankets over them. Brian curled up, one hand softly gripping Ross’s shirt. Ross held him closed smiling softly. “Sleep well Brian… I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“Love you too,” Brian whispered, holding Ross close. And he felt loved. Maybe not totally happy… but maybe that was okay.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian and Dan have a gig at a bar as Ninja Sex Party! Also Ross has a ferret.

“You ready, Brian?”

Brian grinned, pulling on his mask and flashing Dan a thumbs up. It was late in January, and things had never been better. Ross was more understanding as to why Brian had so much trouble opening up and was so sweet to him. Tonight, he and Dan were playing a set at the bar Jack worked at, which was honestly super cool.

Dan winked at him as they went up on the small stage, pulling the microphone close as Brian got behind his keyboard, double checking the settings. “Good evening ladies, gentlemen. I’m Danny Sexbang and this is my best friend Ninja Brian. And we’re here to rock your evening.” He winked, smirking just a little. Brian flipped off anyone who was watching, smiling under the mask. “Ninja Brian! Be nice! Now, can you do me a favor and not murder anyone tonight?” Brian shrugged. “Well… better than nothing. Now, I think we need to tell these lovely people who we are. Cue the theme song!”

Brian started playing the first chords of the stupid theme song they’d written for themselves. He loved it. Dan was bouncing as he sang, looking absolutely vibrant. He was always one to light up in front of a crowd.

They’d only ever done a few small shows like this. About two years back, after they’d started writing in their free time, composing and creating, Dan had managed to get them a time slot at a comedy club not far from their little home. They didn’t really have any ‘fans’ (except Barry, Suzy, and Holly), but it was fun anyway. Dan wanted to do a music video, but it just felt like there wasn’t time. When Dan had his lul in work, January, Brian was busy with midterms. When Brian was off work for the summer, Dan took extra hours at work.

They’d find time someday.

Just not now, but that was okay.

Brian kept playing, head snapping up to glare at Dan at one of the lines like they’d rehearsed. “And Ninja Brian’s fat! ...oh hey ninja Brian. I’m sorry, that came out wrong. I meant stupid. And ugly. And fat.” Brian grabbed his prop knife, rushing forward to ‘stab’ Dan.

Dan dramatically slumped forward before bouncing upright again. “Now that’s just rude, Ninja Brian! You don’t just stab a guy right after his song!” He paused, as of waiting for a response. “What? Okay, sure, it’s your song too, but I apologized. I’m gonna have to take your knife now.” He rolled his eyes dramatically, letting Dan take the fake knife before crossing his arms. Dan bit back laughter, winking at Brian before turning away to start the next song.

Their set went by pretty quick, and Dan and Brian were both smiling as they closed out. They bowed and walked off to the side. Dan grinned as he grabbed his bag. “I’m gonna run and change in the bathroom. Don’t let anyone steal my stuff.”

“Dan, I will absolutely be sure someone steals your stuff.” Brian pulled off his ninja mask, hair sticking up in every direction.

“You’re the best!” Dan headed off to the bathroom, laughing.

Ross hurried over to Brian, grinning. “Babe, oh my god, that was amazing!”

Brian laughed. “You think so?”

“I absolutely do.” He kissed Brian sweetly, pulling him close. After pulling away, he grinned. “Your hair is an absolute mess right now.”

“It’s a combination of static and sweat. You know, I really think if we give it enough time, it could become the new trend, you know?”

“Absolutely not.” Ross laughed as he started running his fingers through Brian’s hair. “You look like a punk who is also a nerd.”

“Is that not what a ninja is?” Brian smirked up at Ross, who stuck his tongue out.

“No.” Ross shook his head, kissing Brian’s forehead. “Your hair is… still a total mess.”

“Well too fuckin bad.” He grinned, looking up when Dan came out of the bathroom. “I’m gonna go change.”

Dan patted his shoulder as they passed, making him smile. He ducked into the bathroom and changed into a long sleeved tee shirt and jeans. He’d been slowly getting more comfortable in short sleeves at home, but in public, he preferred to just stay covered. He stopped to smooth his hair down as much as he could. It was still a mess, but more presentable.

He caught the end of a conversation as he joined the others at a table. “She’s my daughter and I love her.” Ross was showing Barry a picture on his phone.

“...what?” Brian stared at Ross for a long moment.

“Oh! I got a ferret and her name is Sneak and she’s my daughter!” Ross grinned, showing Brian a photo of a white ferret with gray markings around her front legs and along her back. 

“Oh my god. Oh my god you gave me a heart attack.”

“You thought I had an actual child?” Ross laughed. “Babe, Brian, honey, I could never be trusted with a kid.”

“I didn’t think you secretly had a child you hadn’t told your boyfriend of almost three months about! But still, out of context… god.” He shook his head as he sat down. “She’s cute though. I’ve never really… actually looked at a ferret.” He smiled.

“Do you want to come over and meet her?” Ross grinned. “I’m allowed to have her in my apartment since she’s technically a cage animal. Even though I have her out when I’m home.”

“I’d love to!” Brian smiled. “So… how big is she?”

“She’s… long. Like… probably about a foot? She’s gonna grow a little more because she’s young, but I love her. She likes to curl up on blankets and she almost ruined my plushie octopus. She ripped off one of the legs.”

Brian laughed a little. “When did you get her?”

“Last weekend. I would’ve told you, but we’ve both been insanely busy this week, and I wanted to tell you in person.” He reached over to squeeze Brian’s hand across the table, looking up when a waitress came over to take orders.

Brian looked back to Ross after orders had been taken. “So how have you been? We’ve barely even texted this week.”

“Well, I have a ferret now.” He laughed. “But I’ve been good. My classes have been more… subdued because of midterms, I guess. It’s almost nice, but mostly weird. How are you?”

“I’m good. Busy, but okay. Dan and I have been trying to make more time for music.”

“Well, I think you guys sound incredible.” Ross grinned, squeezing his hand.

“Thanks. I’m proud of how far we’ve come. It started as a dumb thing Dan and I did to pass the time a few years ago, and now we actually perform once in a blue moon.” He laughed.

He thanked the waitress when he got his drink, but almost choked on it when he heard a voice. “I told you it was him! Dr. Wecht!”

He looked up after coughing a few times. “Oh my god, Mark Fischbach. How are you?” He smiled. “You were planning on going to college for engineering, right?”

Mark smiled. “Yeah. I ended up dropping out, but I did go to college for… for awhile.”

“Where are you now, then?”

“I make videos online.” He laughed a little. “I went from engineering to the internet.”

Brian smiled. “Well, everyone has a niche in life. I guess yours is online.”

“I can’t believe you’re in a band.”

“I technically wasn’t when I had you as a student.” He grinned. “But that’s Dan. I’m sure your class heard plenty about him.” He nudged Dan. “Dan, this is Mark. I had him when he was a senior four… five? Years ago?”

“Four.” Mark smiled. “Dr. Wecht definitely talked about you.”

Dan laughed. “Oh? All good things I’d hope.”

Brian smirked. “Mostly about how you’re an obnoxious asshole who gets pollen on everything in our house.”

“...fuck, okay, that’s fair enough.” Dan laughed, lightly pushing Brian’s arm.

“So… are you two…?” Mark looked between them, and Brian sighed. 

“Why does everyone assume we’re dating?”

Dan winked. “Because we’re obnoxiously adorable? But nah, we’re not dating. Brian’s too gay for me to handle.”

Brian sighed again. “Yes. That’s the reason. But no, Dan and I aren’t dating. We argue like an old married couple because he wears on my nerves the way straight men claim their wives wear on theirs.”

“Mark, hey, we leaving?” A voice called over from the other side of the bar.

“Ty, come say hi to Dr. Wecht!” Mark grinned. “Dr. Wecht, you remember Tyler, right?”

Tyler smiled awkwardly as Mark pulled him over. “You were always quiet, but you kept Mark under control.” Brian grinned. “You two were two of my favorites to have in class. You kept things… interesting.”

Tyler laughed, lightly wrapping an arm around Mark. “Well… I did my best. It’s good to see you though.”

“You too.” He smiled.

“We should get going. But… maybe we’ll see you around.” Tyler smiled.

Brian nodded. “Have a good night.”

“You too!” Mark waved, grinning as he was led out by Tyler.

Ross giggled. “I see you’re a popular teacher.”

“As popular as a teacher can be.” He laughed. “I like to think it’s because I believe that given the right guidance, passion, and direction, anyone can pass my class. A teacher that says no one gets an A in their class is an automatic red flag for me.”

“That’s.. a great way of looking at things. I mean, you shouldn’t brag that you can’t help students pass the subject you teach.”

“I knew there was a reason I love you.” Brian laughed, squeezing Ross's hand tight. 

An hour or so passed, and Ross was leading Brian up to his apartment, grinning as he unlocked the door. Brian followed him inside, taking off his sweatshirt. Ross’s apartment was cozy, his couch taking up a large amount of the living room area and a small hall leading to the bedroom and bathroom. The part of the living room not occupied by the couch was taken up by a large cage with a litter box in one part, a soft blanket, and a hammock tied up on the bars a few inches up, Sneak the ferret curled up in it and watching them.

Ross smiled as he carefully opened the cage and picked her up. “Brian, this is my baby Sneak. I love her.”

Brian slowly reached out to pet her, her eyes watching him curiously. “She’s really soft.”

“Isn’t she? Watch… watch your wallet. She likes to steal mine. She’s a bandit and I love it.”

“You love her, hm?” Brian laughed as Sneak put her tiny hand on his. “God what a sweetheart.”

Ross hummed happily, sitting down on the couch, grinning when Brian sat down close to him, close enough for their legs to be touching. “She’s sneaky.”

“I couldn’t tell from the name.” Brian laughed as Sneak stretched out her long back, crawling over their legs curiously. She looked up at Brian, squeaking at him and headbutting his stomach lightly. “She’s so… tiny. And long. It’s incredible.”

“So you’ve never seen a ferret?”

“I mean, I guess I’ve seen pictures. Never a real one.” Brian grinned as he pet Sneak, watching her curl up on his lap and yawn. “Sleepy girl…”

Ross grinned. “I guess I should put her back in her cage… she seems to like you though! I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you decided to come by more often to see her…”

“Ross, are you saying you want me to come over more often?”

Ross giggled. “Maybe I am.” He picked up Sneak, carrying her back to her cage. She picked up her cute stuffed animal and crawled into her hammock. “Night night, cute girl.”

Brian smiled softly. “I see why you call her your daughter. She’s the cutest child.”

Ross grinned, kissing Brian softly. “She is. However, that’s not the only reason I asked you over…”

Brian blushed brightly. “Oh. Okay, yeah.” He smiled, pulling Ross into another kiss.

Ross giggled, sitting on his lap and kissing him deeper. “God I love you,” he murmured softly.

“I love you too, Ross.” Brian mumbled, pulling him closer. And as they kissed on Ross’s couch, Brian felt more at ease than he had in… possibly forever.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Valentine’s Day! Which means dates, love, going out to dinner, and discussing how America’s geography is dumb.

Brian sighed as he made his way downstairs to shower after being woken up by his alarm. He heard moving around in the kitchen and raised an eyebrow when he saw Dan moving around, tongue poking out as he stood at the stove. “Morning Danny. Thought you didn’t have work until 9 today.”

“I don’t! But it’s Valentine’s Day! So I’m making pancakes! Pink ones!”

Brian stared for a moment. “...so it is.”

Dan raised an eyebrow. “Did you forget?”

“... kind of? I have dinner reservations with Ross tonight. I just kind of vaguely didn’t… remember at this given moment?”

“So you forgot. Fair enough.” Dan giggled softly, looking back at the stove to keep an eye on the pancakes. 

“Dan, in my defense, I forget my own birthday on a yearly basis. You know this.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and shower. I’ll have some ready for you when you’re out.”

Brian laughed. “You’re a sweetheart Dan.”

“I do my best!”

Brian rolled his eyes, smiling as he went into the bathroom to shower. True to his word, Dan had a plate of vibrantly pink pancakes set out for Brian when he came downstairs after getting ready for work. “I’m gonna surprise Barry on my way to work. I drive past the office he works in.”

“Dan, I swear you are one of the most genuinely sweet people I’ve ever met. It’s amazing.”

“Aw, thanks Brian.” He smiled, sliding him syrup, and Brian swore he saw a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “ Also I made too much batter. So… you should totally take some with you.”

Brian laughed. “I am… not surprised about that.”

“You don’t have faith in my ability to make a reasonable amount of pancake batter?”

“I’m still wary of your ability to make pancakes in general.”

“It’s been years Brian! There’s not batter on top of the cabinets though. You’re totally exaggerating that. Because you can’t see up there.”

“That’s what you think.” Brian took a bite of his pancakes, grinning around it. “I trust your ability to make pancakes to an extent because these are fucking delicious.”

“...I’ll take your compliment. But you can absolutely fight me.” He set a mug of coffee down in front of Brian, made the way he liked it. “You’re lucky I care about you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I care about you too. Thanks.” He took a sip of the coffee, grinning at Dan.

Dan dramatically sighed, pouring more batter into the pan he was using. “Can’t believe you make me care about you.”

“You know you love me. Besides, you imprinted on me in a time of peril in your life and vice versa. So… we’re stuck with each other.”

“Hey. We’re not stuck. We made an active choice to involve ourselves in each other’s lives. We could walk out anytime we want. What’s important is that it isn’t what we want. At least not what I want. Is it what you want?” He looked over at Brian, expression almost indeterminable.

“What? No! No, god no, Dan. I’d never walk out on you. As long as you promise never to walk out on me.”

“Never.” Dan walked over to give Brian a tight hug. “Never ever.”

“Good,” Brian mumbled, holding Dan tight. “I worry sometimes.”

“You do?” Dan pulled away to look at Brian more directly.

“I just… I’ve been close to… to not a whole lot of people in my live. And it always feels like I have the worst luck and I just… lose those people. So I get scared that the people I care about now are going to leave me too.” He took a quiet sip of his coffee. “It’s dumb, I know. I don’t… I dont have any reason to think like that, but… I do.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me about it?” Dan leaned on the counter. “How long have you… felt like this?”

“...since I met you.”

“What?” Dan grabbed Brian’s hands. “I promise you I’ll never abandon you or leave you. I care about you so fucking much dude. You’re my best friend, partner in crime, ninja to my Sexbang… I swear I’ll always be by your side.”

Brian lightly squeezed Dan’s hands back. “Thanks Dan… I care about you too. Also you’re burning your pancakes.”

“I’m… fuck!” Dan hurried back over to the stove.

A half hour later, Brian walked into the school carrying a stack of paper plates and a tupperware container of pancakes, almost running into Ross. “Hey. You just get here too?” He smiled.

“Yeah.” Ross kissed his cheek. “Happy Valentine’s Day, my valentine.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” Brian grinned. “Dan made way too many pancakes if you’re interested?”

“Oh hell yeah.” Ross grinned. “Dan’s like… the second greatest guy that lives in your house.”

“Is Barry the first?” Brian laughed. “You two seem to get along pretty well.”

“Barry is so great. He fixed my phone for me, so now I can actually get calls on it. But you’re the actual greatest.”

Brian laughed. “I’m flattered. Though Barry is fantastic. He makes the best chili though. He likes me enough that I can probably ask him to make it sometime.”

“Let me know. Chili is fucking delicious.” Ross smiled as they went into his classroom. He took off his sweatshirt, setting his stuff down. 

Brian put a few pancakes on a plate for him. “Dan tried to make them hearts. ...tried.”

“Well, I appreciate his effort! Dan’s a sweetheart, which totally makes up for his hair inability to make a pancake to look like a heart.” Ross grinned, sitting down at his desk to eat them. “We still on for tonight?”

“Of course. I’ll pick you up at seven, okay?”

“Sounds perfect.” Ross gave Brian a quick kiss before Brian left, headed for Suzy’s room.

Suzy was grading papers at her desk, earbuds in. Brian gently tapped her shoulder, and she shrieked in shock. “Brian! Oh my god! Don’t do that!”

Brian smiled apologetically. “Sorry I scared you.”

“It’s okay.” She let out a long sigh. “Fuck, man.”

“I came to offer pancakes. Dan made too many this morning.” 

“Amazing. Please give.” Suzy made grabby hands. Brian laughed, putting a few on a plate for her. “Oh! And happy valentines, Brian.”

“You too. How’s the wife?”

She laughed. “Holly’s great. Been working on some art commissions, costume stuff, that kind of thing. How’s the boyfriend?”

Brian laughed. “Ross is good. I love him, he loves me. Probably one of the best relationships I’ve ever been in.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” She smiled. “Tell Dan I said thanks for the pancakes.”

“I will. See you at lunch.” He left to find Arin and Vernon before heading to his classroom. Students were just starting to arrive as he got set up for the day.

A flash of red caught his eye, and he smiled when he saw a stuffed dog with a red heart on it, a box of chocolates, and a… flash drive. There was a note attached to the dog. ‘Happy V Day, babe! Love you! -Ross’

He smiled, picking up the flash drive and plugging it into his laptop. On it was a sprite animation of Ross dancing with Brian, and it was the cutest thing Brian had ever seen. He smiled softly, sending a text.

_To Ross: **I love you**_

He got up to start his first class, gently setting the chocolate box and stuffed dog aside. 

That night, he pulled up in front of Ross’s building. Ross was already waiting outside, holding a bouquet of flowers. “Hey Bri.” He grinned as he got in the car.

“Hi sweetheart. Thanks for the gifts on my desk this morning. I love the animation you made.”

“I’m glad!” He grinned. “I was hoping you’d like it.”

“How could I not? You made it.”

“God, you’re sappy.” Ross giggled, watching Brian. “It’s sweet though. You’re sweet.”

Brian laughed softly, blushing softly. “Yeah, well… I do my best. It’s because I like you so much.”

“I like you too, babe.” He reached over to squeeze Brian’s knee, smiling sweetly.

Brian blushed darker, but smiled. “I love you, in fact.” He laughed a little, smiling shyly.

The way they were laughing and blushing was almost reminiscent of a first date. But they’d both settled by the time they were seated at the restaurant.

“So… tell me about Australia.” Brian grinned as they looked over menus. “I’ve never been there.”

“It’s… hot.” Ross laughed. “I’ve never seen snow because of how hot it is, if that tells you anything about that. But… I like Australia. I grew up in Perth, which is pretty far off from the other major cities by… a lot.” He grinned. “But where I was, anyway, it was pretty small.”

“Yeah? What’s your family like?”

Ross grinned. “Well, my sister already wants to meet you. We text fairly regularly. But I love my family. My parents are actually both Irish, but moved to Australia before I was born so… I have an accent on some words.”

“As I’ve noticed. I thought some words sounded more Irish for you!”

“Smart man,” Ross teased. “You grew up here, right?”

“In America? Yes. Not California. Over in New Jersey.”

“...that’s east of here, right?”

“All the way east. The other coast.”

“America is too big.” Ross sighed dramatically as he took a sip of his wine. “States. They’re too big.”

“Do you where Alaska is?” Brian grinned.

“...I don’t think so.”

“It’s basically in Canada. It doesn’t even touch anywhere else in America. Just Canada.”

“What the hell. Hawaii? Understandable. Alaska? That’s Canada.”

Brian grinned. “But yeah, Jersey’s over about as far East as you can go. If you’ve never seen snow, you’d love winter there.”

“A lot of snow?”

“Mhm.” Brian laughed. “Hot summers, freezing winters… seasons are great.”

Ross grinned. “What’s your family like, then?”

“Well… it’s just me and my sister these days. And a few cousins, but I was never close to them growing up. She’s still out east, and I just needed to get out of there. I’m hoping to go out there to see her over the summer. We kind of fell out of touch a few years ago, but… she’s my little sister so I’ve gotta keep an eye on her.” He shrugged. “But I’ve got a new family here. Suzy and Holly, Arin, Jack, and Vernon, Dan and Barry… and you of course.”

Ross smiled softly, holding Brian’s hand tight across the table. “I love you Brian. I really do. I thought I was gonna be stuck as just the new teacher and feel alone except for Suzy and Holly, but… you’ve really helped me feel like I can make this home.”

“I love you too, Ross.” He smiled softly. “So… why did you move to America anyway?”

“If I’m being honest? Comic conventions.” He grinned. “The last few years, I’ve been flying out here to go to cons with Arin, and I’ve always loved the American animation scene. I want to someday animate full time. Teaching is great, but… I don’t think I see myself doing it forever. I feel like living here gives me more opportunities to strike something big.” He smirked a little. “Plus, American guys? They’ve got cute butts. One American guy at least.”

Brian laughed. “Ross… oh my god, you’re a dork. And I’m living for it.”

Ross blew a kiss, laughing. “You know I do my best.”

“To be a dork? Of course I know baby.” Brian squeezed Ross’s hand tight. “I’m so happy to be dating you, you know that?”

Ross grinned. “I’m happy to be dating you too. You’re so smart and kind.”

“And you can always make me smile. Which isn’t the easiest thing, huh?”

“Not always. But I’m by your side no matter what. Because you’re cute.”

“God forbid I ever lose my natural charm.” Brian grinned as they got their food and started eating.

“You could never lose that. You’re handsome as hell baby.” Ross winked happily as he ate. “This is the best Valentine’s Day ever,” he said around a mouthful of spaghetti.

Brian laughed. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

They chatted idly about their classes, talking shit on some of their worse students. Brian told Ross about a student who had just scribbled lines on a paper, trying to take advantage of the fact that he only checked for completion most of the time before going over the answers. Ross told Brian about a student who exclusively referred to paint as ‘a tasty beverage’. Which was… concerning to say the least.

As they finished up, Brian grinned. “We’re not gonna get dessert here. I have a plan.”

“Oh? I’d never deny a man with a plan.”

Brian laughed, thanking the waitress when he got the check. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you. We’ve made out before, Brian. I only allow people I trust to make out with me.”

“Really? Damn, I’ve been doing it wrong then,” he joked, signing the receipt. “Making out with you is great though.”

Ross laughed, smiling as they got up to leave, reaching for Brian’s hand. “So, where are we going now?”

“Just up the road!” Brian grinned, leading Ross to the sidewalk, leaving his car parked. He reached over to cover Ross’s eyes with his free hand, which was… an awkward position but it was fine.

Ross grinned. “Is this a febreeze commercial?”

Brian laughed, squeezing Ross’s hand. Well… he tried, but was uncoordinated, so used the wrong hand and squeezed Ross’s face. “...wrong hand.”

“Brian, honey, I think you might be a dumbass.”

“It’s a possibility.” Brian laughed a little, sheepish. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay honey. Just don’t let me fall, okay?”

“I won’t, don’t worry. Thought you trusted me?”

“I do. But also you squeezed my face.”

“Be nice to me.” Brian laughed, uncovering Ross’s eyes after they’d walked for a little while. “We’re here.”

“Ice cream? In February?” Ross raised an eyebrow, but was grinning anyway.

“It’s 60 degrees, which qualifies as ice cream weather.”

“You know the way to a man's heart.” Ross pretended to swoon, squeezing Brian’s hand tight.

“I try. At least your heart anyway.”

“Gay.” Ross laughed as they headed inside the small ice cream shop.

“Brian, how are you? You haven’t been around in awhile.” A tall man behind the counter smiled at him.

“Hey Matt. I’m… actually doing pretty great. Ross, this is Matt, Matt, this is my boyfriend, Ross.”

Matt reached over to shake his hand. “Hi! I can’t believe Brian got a boyfriend.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone think I’m unable to get a boyfriend? I did do that.”

“No, no. It’s just that you were depressed.”

“It’s the depression.”

Ross laughed a little. “Aw, Bri, you’re cute and charming.”

“Thank you.”

Matt rolled his eyes, smiling. “So… what can I get you two?”

Brian squeezed Ross’s hand as they ordered their ice cream, paying as Ross picked a table to sit at. “So… how do you know Matt?”

“Uh, he’d just started working here when I started coming a few years back. Back when I’d get… into a bad headspace and just couldn’t be at home, I’d end up here. I’m not sure why, but I’d just get ice cream and cry outside in my car. Eventually Matt approached me and asked if I was okay. So… not the best circumstances, but they have damn good ice cream and Matt is pretty chill.”

Ross smiled a little as he licked at his ice cream cone. “So why bring me here if you have bad memories here?”

“Well, the ice cream is great. And… it’ll be nice to have some good memories here.” Brian shrugged, eating his chocolate ice cream with far too much whipped cream.

“Good thing I love you and ice cream!” Ross giggled. Brian was quiet for a moment as his eyes met Ross’s and he was filled with a warm happiness he hadn’t felt in a long time. “Hey… are you crying?”

“...no. I’m just… really happy. You make me so happy.” He wiped his eyes, laughing a little. “God, I’m so emotional.”

“Good thing you make me emotional too.” He pulled Brian into a soft kiss over the table and for once… Brian felt completely at peace.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW FOR THIS CHAPTER: TALK OF PAST SUICIDAL THOUGHTS  
> It’s Dan’s birthday, and Brian just wants to throw a party for his best friend. But as the party ends, he, Dan, Ross, and Barry get more than they bargained for.

Brian smiled as he set the oven, glancing at the tin to check the time and temperature. He’d gotten up a half hour before he normally got up, 45 minutes before Dan usually got up. He’d showered and gotten dressed, and was making cinnamon rolls. It was a dumb thing he’d done for Dan their first year living together, since they’d both been pretty broke since they’d bought a whole ass house. But now it was tradition.

He stuck the pan of store bought cinnamon rolls in the oven, sitting on the counter and just watching the clock. Before too long, oven was almost done, and it was just a minute before Dan’s alarm would go off. He snuck into Dan’s room, pulsing a moment. The early morning light was faint, hardly even illuminating him, but Dan looked absolutely angelic, hair fluffy around his head. The sun fell softly on his face, and he was absolutely beautiful.

Brian shook his head, willing the blush away from his face. He stepped quietly inside the room, pressing the button on Dan’s alarm clock to turn off the alarm. After a moment, he took a deep breath and started to sing. “Happy birthday to you… happy birthday to you… happy birthday dear Danny… happy birthday to you.”

Dan groaned, rolling over onto his back and rubbing his eyes. “Aww… you remembered.”

“Of course. There’s cinnamon rolls in the oven. They’ll be ready soon.”

“Brian, have I ever told you I love you? I swear. You’re so kind and sweet. And you’ve just been so happy lately, and it’s so nice to see…”

Brian laughed, the blush back full force. “Aw, Dan… happy birthday, man.”

Dan got up, hugging Brian tight. “Seriously. You’re like… my best friend.” He grinned, heading the timer go off.

“You’re so good motivated, Dan.” Brian laughed, heading back to the kitchen. “Don’t burn yourself, okay?” He put on the oven mitts and took out the cinnamon rolls, putting them on the counter. He tossed Dan the pack of icing that came with them. “Go wild, bud.”

Dan giggled, starting to squeeze the icing onto the cooling rolls. “Thank you!”

“So you’re 34 now. How’s it feel?”

“I’m catching up to you. Now we’re only 3 years apart.”

“Until next month.” He stuck his tongue out, almost childish.

Dan laughed loudly. “Tragic. It truly is a fruitless endeavor and you’ve outdone me in age. Guess I’ll perish.”

“You can’t die. I have plans.”

“...ominous.”

“You’ll see, don’t worry.”

Dan made a face as he started to get one of the cinnamon rolls out of the pan. “Still ominous. There’s a reason you’re the ninja part of our band.”

“I thought it was the crazy eyes.” Brian gave Dan his best death stare.

“No, that’s the reason you’re a teacher. You’re a ninja because you have an ominous presence.”

“That’s a true compliment. And I take it to heart.” Brian leaned on the counter, watching Dan start to eat his cinnamon roll. “You going over to Barry’s tonight?”

“Probably. I’m coming home after work though.” Dan hummed, stretching his arms over his head. His back cracked a little, but Brian glanced down, where the front of Dan’s shirt had ridden up a little, revealing a strip of his stomach. “Ew, I am getting old.”

Brian’s eyes darted away. “Dude, if joints cracking mean you’re old, I’ve been only since I was like… 12.”

“You probably have been, knowing you. Did anyone tell you that you’re an old soul when you were a kid.”

“...shut up.” Brian laughed, getting the orange juice from the fridge. “I remember when I was your age.”

“I’d hope so. It was 4 years ago.”

“Hush my child.”

“Brian, I’m going to cause physical harm to your body.” Dan was giggling as he watched Brian, licking icing off his fingers.

“You couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Yeah, cause my dad killed my pet fly.”

“That story will never not be hilarious to me.” Brian grinned.

“My favorite story is that time my parents were visiting and you forgot and walked down here shirtless and then immediately turned around and ran back upstairs when you saw them and didn’t leave your room all day. And then you fell off the roof. Because you tried to sneak out through the window.” Dan grinned as Brian blushed. 

“I could’ve died Dan.”

“Please, the only thing bruised was your ego.”

Brian tried not to laugh. “Well, that, my back, my arms, and my second impression on your parents. They asked you if I did drugs.”

“Well, in their defense, they saw you shirtless for five seconds and then on the ground after falling off the fucking roof.” Dan grinned. “God, you’re a ridiculous man, Brian Wecht.”

“Like you’re any better, Avidan.” Brian crossed his arms. “You got batter on the ceiling once, trying to make pancakes.”

“My can’t we move on from that?” Dan pouted at Brian.

“Nope.” Brian grinned, pulling a hair clip out of his pocket and handing it to Dan. “Your hair is getting in your cinnamon roll.”

Dan blinked, clipping his hair back. “Why did you-?”

“I like to wear them sometimes.” He shrugged. “They make me feel cute. Sometimes a man has to look out for himself and just feel cute.”

“Same reason I wear eyeliner.” Dan giggled. “You heading to work soon?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a busy day. Two of my classes have tests and one has a test tomorrow. Plus I want some makeout time with Ross.”

“Gross.” Dan giggled. “I should get ready for work though… I’ll see you around 5!”

Brian picked up his bag. “Yeah, see you then.”

Suzy hurried over to him as soon as he walked through the front door. “Okay, so Holly’s picking up the cake around 2:30, when she’ll pick me up right at the end of the day.”

Brian nodded, unhooking his house key from his key ring and handing it to her. “Right. I have a group of students who want some extra help with the current chapter, but I should be done by 4. I have pretty much everything down in the basement, so it should be easy to find.”

“You weren’t worried Dan would find the stuff?”

“It’s his birthday, Suzy, he’d connect the dots. I’m only half dedicated to the surprise part. Besides, he hates the basement.”

She laughed. “Fair enough. Arin is gonna bring his speakers. You’re taking care of the music, right?”

“The playlist is almost done and contains the entire discography of Rush. And some other 80s songs.”

“You know him so well.”

“I like to think so.” Brian grinned. “He’ll be home around 5. So we should have plenty of time to be ready. And don’t lose my key.”

“I won’t lose your key.” She smiled. “I’ll see you when you get there.” She waved, heading to her classroom.

Ross was sitting on Brian’s desk, grinning. “Hey!”

“Hey sweetheart.” Brian gave him a quick kiss. “Ready for the party tonight?”

Ross nodded, smiling. “Yeah. I can’t make a whole lot because I burn everything, so I just got a bunch of cheese and deli meat and rolls.”

“Perfect. Barry’s making chili, because he’s great, Holly’s picking up the cake and she and Suzy and Barry are on the decorating team.”

“Man, you’re just going all out, huh?”

“Well, yeah. He’s my best friend.” Brian smiled as he sat at his desk.

“I know. I can see it in the way you look at him.”

If Ross was totally honest, he’d always wondered if Brian had a thing for Dan. From the start he’d been defensive about his relationship with Dan. He always laughed a little harder and smiled a little brighter around him. And when they made eye contact, Brian always looked like he was filled with adoration. 

Maybe Ross should be jealous. But… he wasn’t. Maybe it was wrong to feel those same things about Dan. And maybe Barry too. But he loved Brian and knew Brian loved him. And they were happy.

He pressed a kiss to Brian’s forehead. “I’ll leave you to it. See you tonight?”

“See you then.” Brian smiled brightly.

Brian opened the front door to his house, hurrying inside. The study session had gone longer than expected, mostly because one of the students had gotten him on a tangent. He was immediately hit in the face with a deflating balloon. He blinked, startled.

Barry laughed. “Sorry Brian! It got stabbed by someone.”

Ross quickly threw a toothpick. “Wonder who.”

Brian smiled, looking around. Vernon was in the kitchen, getting everything arranged nicely, Jack grinning as he talked with someone Brian vaguely recognized as one of Dan’s friends he’d met… once. Holly was sitting on Suzy’s shoulders, trying to put up a banner.

“This is a broken neck waiting to happen! I can get you a stool!” Brian hurried over.

Holly shook her head, getting the banner up. “We’ve got it!”

Suzy kneeled down to let Holly get off. “I like my head crushed between her thighs.” Holly laughed, shoving her arm.

Brian sighed. “Don’t give me a heart attack. I can’t believe I’m the logical one here.”

“You have a PhD and you’re wearing a tie. You’re obviously the logical one.”

“...fight me Suzy. I’m gonna run upstairs and change.”

Suzy nodded. “Hurry. It’s already quarter to 5. He’ll be home soon.”

Brian nodded, heading upstairs and quickly changing into his usual outfit of a long sleeved tee and jeans. He was back downstairs quickly, Ross grabbing his hand.

There was quiet talking until the doorknob began turning. Then it went silent until Dan pushed it open. “Surprise!”

Dan blinked a few times, startled, but then he grinned. “Oh my god.”

Barry grinned. “Happy birthday!” Dan giggled and pulled Barry close, kissing him. Barry hummed softly, pulling away. “Brian did most of the planning. You should be kissing him.”

Dan laughed, going over to Brian and kissing his head. “You’re such a good person, Bri.”

Brian blushed brightly. “It was nothing. Now enjoy your party, sappy jerk.”

“So aggressive!” Dan giggled as people came up to him to wish him a happy birthday.

Brian smiled a little, glancing over at Ross. “I’m gonna grab a drink. Want anything?”

“Grab me a soda?”

Brian nodded, heading over into the kitchen and grabbing a beer for himself and a can of soda for Ross. Arin has left his speakers in there, so he grabbed those too.

He handed Ross the soda and started setting up the speakers, hooking up his phone and turning on the playlist. He sat on the couch, opening his beer. “To Dan.”

Ross laughed. “He’s getting old.”

“...I’m 4 years older than him.” Brian pouted dramatically.

“You pull it off better?” Ross giggled.

Brian sighed and flipped him off, pretending to pout, but Ross smooched his cheek.

Ross ended up going off to talk with other people, but Brian stayed on the couch. He’d been getting better about talking to people he didn’t know, but it was still difficult. So he just talked to the people he did know.

Barry brought him a bowl of chili and they just talked for awhile. He’d almost forgotten how nice it was to just sit with Barry. He’d have to hang out with him, just the two of them sometime soon. 

Things kind of just… went by. Brian didn’t pay them much mind, drinking his beer and watching. At one point the cake came out, and Dan got a little teary eyed when everyone sang to him, and soon enough, people began to trickle out. Dan had a beer in hand, and it didn’t look like he’d even finished it, but he was getting giggly and red in the cheeks.

Holly smiled as she and Suzy got ready to head out after helping to clean up a little. “It’s been fun.” She hugged Dan. “Happy birthday, old man.”

Dan stuck his tongue out, giggling as they left before walking over to the couch. 

“What a fucking lightweight.” Brian shook his head and laughed, leaning up to give Dan a quick kiss on the cheek. But then he froze, his lips against Dan’s for a split second after Dan turned his head at precisely the wrong moment. Brian stared at Dan with wide eyes, color starting to drain from his face, all the happiness he’d felt going with it. It was replaced with unbridled fear. 

“Brian?” Dan frowned, cloudy head sobering up a little. 

Brian looked around, expression something akin to a cornered animal. And then he bolted. He ran up the stairs to the attic, unable to breathe as he slammed the door at the top of the steps, sliding down to the floor of his room with his back against the door. 

That shouldn’t have happened. He felt like something heavy was perched on his chest, collapsing his lungs. His knees were pulled to his chest, arms crossed and hiding his face. Too much was coming to the surface. Old feelings, fear, anxieties... He used to be so in love with Dan. 

Had... had he ever fallen out of love? Maybe he’d just started repressing everything after Barry came into the picture. Dan did like to joke about Brian’s emotional constipation. 

But what about Ross? Barry? He was in love with Ross. He knew that. He wanted to spend forever with Ross. But at the same time, the mere thought of Dan leaving his life hurt. And.. Barry too really. What did it mean?

Why was he sobbing?

Downstairs, it was chaos. Dan was freaking out, curled up on the couch, Barry comforting him, murmuring that it had just been an accident, nothing more than a small mistake. But Dan didn’t know why that just made him even more upset. 

Ross paced nervously, eyes darting over to Barry and Dan every few seconds. He didn’t know if he should go after Brian. He slowly moved to sit down next to Dan. “Dan... Dan, hey, look at me?” Dan looked up with tear tracks down his face, and something in Ross’s chest tugged. “It’s okay, you know.”

“No! It’s not! He’s gonna hate me now and you and Barry should hate me now too and everything is fucked up!” He flopped his head back down with a distressed cry, hair hiding his face. 

“Nobody hates you... come on, deep breaths with me...”

Ross rested one hand on Dan’s cheek, softly lifting his head and leaning his forehead against Dan’s. One of Dan’s hands moved up, shakily gripping Ross’s wrist. Slowly, Ross guided Dan’s breaths, helping him calm down. “There we go,” Ross murmured, softly brushing his fingers against Dan’s cheek, wiping away tears. It was such an intimate gesture, and he could feel his face flushing a little. “Better?”

Dan stared at Ross for a moment after he sat back, slowly nodding. “Mhm...”

“Good.” He looked up, seeing Barry as he headed up the stairs. 

Barry felt like his heart broke when he heard Brian’s gaspy sobs as he made his way up the stairs. There was so much raw emotion in the cries, more than Barry had ever heard from him. “Brian?” He knocked softly on the closed door.

“I’m sorry!” Brian’s words were shaky, and it sounded like he was trying and failing to muffle his crying. 

Barry tried to push the door open, but Brian was blocking it. “Can I come in?”

“No!” Brian held his legs tighter to his chest, trembling a little harder. 

“Okay... I’m gonna sit out here though. And I’m gonna talk to you through the door. Because you’re really upset right now, and I don’t like the thought of you being alone.” The unspoken reason hung in the air, and Brian didn’t have the strength to argue, letting out another weak sob.

“Dan’s scared, you know. He thinks he ruined everything and that he broke... well, everything. He’s a little bit dramatic, huh?” Brian sat down on the top step, leaning back against the closed door. “I mean... I don’t know why this is a huge deal. I have... I have my suspicions though.”

Another sob came through the door, and Barry heard a shifting noise. The sound of a shirt dragging against the door, Brian changing his position a little. 

“I think that maybe, just maybe, there’s a whole lot more than either of you are letting on. Maybe some feelings, maybe something that’s been hidden for a long time. I know that you’re in love with Ross. I know that Dan is in love with me. But maybe you guys have more love than that. I see how you look at him Brian.”

Brian’s sobs faded away, becoming quiet cries as he just... listened. He needed to be told it was okay. “It’s not wrong to be in love with more than one person. You’re allowed to give all the love your heart has to give. But I don’t like seeing this. I don’t like seeing the people I care about hurting.” There was a long pause. “Brian... can you let me in?”

Another pause, and then movement on the other side of the door. The knob turned as Barry stood up, the door squeaking as it opened, Brian staring at the floor. Barry stepped into the room. “Okay... There we go.” He opened his arms, and in an instant, Brian’s face was buried in his neck, gripping his shirt tightly. “You need to talk to him, Brian.”

“...I need a few more minutes.” 

“Okay.” They stood there, Brian buried in Barry’s arms, just needing all the comfort he could get. 

“What if...?” It was a faint whisper. “What if there’s someone else too?” Brian slowly let go of Barry. “What if there’s someone who I so badly wanted to hate when I first met him, but couldn’t? Someone who became one of my best friends, and yet I’ve been entirely jealous of for years, even after I shouldn’t have been?”

“Brian, are you...?”

“Yeah. You.” Brian wiped his eyes. “I don’t know when it happened, but you’re just so incredibly sweet and kind... you’re so supportive of me and I wanted to hate you so bad... I used to be... I wanted to be with Dan. And then you showed up and I wanted to hate you but I couldn’t. Because you’re one of the few genuinely kind people left on this bitch of a planet. And somewhere along the line here... I started falling for you too. And it’s complicated, and I feel... a whole lot of things right now.”

“...maybe we should take this downstairs.” Barry said softly. Brian slowly nodded, starting to follow Barry downstairs. 

Dan was curled up on the couch, leaning against Ross, who was talking softly to him. Dan’s eyes widened when he saw Brian, and he practically tripped over himself as he got up. “Brian! Brian, oh my god I’m so sorry, fuck, I’m so so sorry...”

He pulled Brian into a tight hug, one that was immediately returned just as tightly. “I overreacted. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, no shhh... don’t apologize.”

Barry sighed, sitting next to Ross. “I think we all need to talk.”

Dan frowned, slowly sitting back down. “Why?”

“Brian? You wanna take the lead here?”

Brian gulped, sitting down uneasily. “Um... back.. back when Dan and I met... I had some... pretty heavy feelings for him.” His words weren’t directed at anyone in particular, eyes trained on the ground. “Feelings that I tried to push away after he started dating Barry. But... they never really went away. The... what happened, kinda brought it rushing to the surface and I panicked. And then after Dan and Barry started dating, I got close to Barry too. And ended up with... more strong feelings, directed at him, but pushed those down too. And then I met Ross, and feel in love with him. And I thought... I thought maybe being in love with Ross would cancel out those feelings and get rid of them. It didn’t. And... And Ross, I still really love you.” 

He couldn’t bring himself to look up. “I really do, I swear. But somehow... I don’t only have feelings for you.” He held his breath, eyes still on the floor. “God, this is so fucked up, huh?” He gave a weak laugh, burying his face in his hands as more tears formed in his eyes. 

Ross sighed. “You know, if it was anyone else, I might me upset.” That got Brian to look up a little. “But it’s Dan and Barry, who are two of the most handsome motherfuckers I’ve ever met, who are also sweet and kind and... I know how you look over at Dan whenever he’s around. And I know you do love me, and hell, I love you a whole fucking lot. But if you spend enough time around these two... I guess it’s pretty hard not to fall in love.”

Dan was just staring at Brian with wide eyes. “You’ve... for that long? And you never said anything?”

Brian shrugged. “I was scared. You didn’t know that I’m gay until well after you started dating Barry. And... how could I not fall in love with you? You saved my life. I... I never told you this but... the night we met, I was planning on going home after getting completely wasted and just...” 

He took a deep breath. “I was going to kill myself because I couldn’t see any reasons to keep myself alive. I felt like I’d peaked, I’d lost so many people in my life, and I really should’ve been in therapy of some kind. But then you came in and sat next to me.” He gave a weak laugh. “Half a beer in and you just started spilling everything to me. And then you needed a ride home and you’d lived two floors above me for years. And thank god you were as drunk as you were, because if I hadn’t stayed with you that night to make sure you didn’t hit your head on anything or choke on puke in your sleep...” He trailed off, the implications heavy in the air. 

Dan had known he’d been severely depressed, but Brian had never told him the true extent. He pulled Brian close, hugging him tightly. “Brian... oh my god...” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t imagine life without you. I... I can’t believe you... fuck.” He pressed his face into Brian’s shoulder, eyes filling with tears. “I could’ve lost you before I even got to love you,” he whispered, choked by half a sob. 

Brian held Dan tightly, sighing shakily. Dan cried into Brian’s shoulder, clinging to him. “I... love you Brian. I love you so much and I never want to live without you by my side...”

“I love you too Dan... I really really do. I have for so long.”

Dan sat back a little, grabbing Brian’s face and pulling him into a sudden kiss, one wet with tears and heavy with long held back feelings. Brian gripped Dan’s sleeves tightly and kissed back, needing him close, needing to reassure him. He was okay. He was alive. 

The underlying desperation in the kiss crescendoed, and then it began to fade away, Dan pulling back and leaning his forehead against Brian’s with another weak sob. “I love you. I love you baby girl... and I never want to lose you.”

“I love you too Dan. So much. For so long.” There were tears in his eyes too, and it was so much bubbling to the surface.

But as Barry brought them glasses of water and Ross pressed delicate kisses to their heads... maybe feeling so much wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe his heart was exploding, but that was okay, feeling it expand with so much fucking love. Feeling it returned too... that made it ache. And he’d never wanted to feel such an ache more. They’d figure out what this was. But that much could wait.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Brian's birthday, and it’s Dan's turn to go all out. Even if the version of going all out for Brian is a little more lowkey. And involves telling embarrassing stories.

Dan grinned as Ross pushed the door open for him, greeting him with a quick kiss on the cheek. They were all dating now, a little tentative, but it was nice. But today was Brian’s birthday, more than a month after Dan’s. It was almost Brian and Ross’s 6 month anniversary too.

Instead of a party like Brian put on for Dan, Dan had just invited Ross and Barry over for dinner, which he was going to order from Brian’s favorite restaurant. He wanted it to be perfect.

Dan looked around Brian’s classroom, smiling. “Can’t believe I’ve never been here. I usually only help him bring stuff in at the beginning of the year.”

Ross smiled. “Brian runs a tight ship. I have a few of his students in my art classes, and they either love him or hate him. There’s really no in between. If you put forth effort and do your work, even if you don’t do perfect, those are the students that love him. The students that don’t, well…”

“Sounds like Brian alright.” Dan set his gift for Brian on his desk, grinning when he saw the blank whiteboard. He picked up the pink marker resting on the market ledge, starting to doodle. “I’m so glad you two met.”

Ross smiled, sitting on one of the desks. “So am I. I love him a whole lot…”

“I love him too… I just keep thinking about the things he told us, and… god, I didn’t know it was that bad.”

Ross sighed. “Yeah. But what’s important is that he’s better than he was. He’s happy.”

Dan smiled. “I love you, Ross. You’re an amazing person.” He kept doodling on the board.

“Good. Because I love you too.” Ross watched him draw. “So how much do you want to bet that Brian completely forgot that today’s his birthday?”

“I’ll give you… five bucks if he remembers and isn’t caught off guard.”

“Deal.” Ross grinned. “You know he won’t remember.”

“...I left muffins in the kitchen for him. He’s gotta remember. He remembers my birthday every year.”

“Not his own, I've heard.”

“From who?” Dan giggled.

“Barry. I went on a date with him the other night.”

“Damn.” Dan laughed. “It’s kind of funny. He’s such a sweetheart though. I’ll probably owe you five bucks though.”

Ross laughed. “You will. Almost done?” 

Dan nodded, glancing at the clock. “He must be running late… I’ve gotta get to work, but I’ll see you tonight, okay?” He put the marker down and gave Ross a gentle kiss on the lips that left them both blushing. “Uh… see you.”

“Yeah, see you tonight.” Ross smiled, staying where he was. He was blushing a little. Anything with Dan or Barry was still new. Though it was nothing compared to the way Brian’s face lit up red when Dan would kiss his cheek. Dan waved, heading out with a bright smile. 

Brian was running late. His alarm hadn’t gone off, yet another reminder that he needed to get a new phone. He’d abandoned his tie, not having the time to get it done, and looked a little more undone than usual. 

He got in just before students, practically running into his room. “Hey Ross,” he mumbled, dropping his bag and quickly looking over papers.

“Hey Bri.” Ross giggled.

Brian looked up, blinking at the doodles. “What’s this?”

“...you have no idea what today is, do you?”

“...it's not our anniversary? That’s Halloween.”

“Oh Brian, you poor dumbass.”

Brian tilted his head, the first students making their way in. “I… I think you need to spell it out for me.”

“Oh my god, you really did forget your birthday.”

Brian blinked a few times. “Ohhhhhh.”

Ross sighed. “Brian… I’ll see you later, okay?” He laughed softly. “You’re ridiculous.”

“You’re just mean. I’m getting old.”

“I know, you’ve mentioned.” Ross rolled his eyes, smiling as he left.

Brian sighed softly, picking up the small gift on his desk, smiling a little when he opened it up to a pair of nice earbuds and a cute note from Dan with hearts doodled all over it. He took a photo of the doodles on the board before starting to erase it with a sigh.

He was greeted by Barry when he got home that afternoon. Barry was sitting on the couch and grinned. “Happy birthday Brian!”

“Thanks Barry. Ross called me a dumbass because I forgot.”

Barry laughed softly. “You’ve always remembered my and Dan’s birthdays. Just not your own. You’re an enigma, Wecht.”

Brian set his bag down, sitting on the couch next to Barry. “Maybe.” He gave Barry a shy kiss.

Barry smiled softly. “I got you a gift.” He handed Brian a wrapped gift.

Brian smiled as he opened it, but stared with wide eyes. “You got me a phone?”

Barry shrugged, smiling. “You keep complaining about how bad yours is and how expensive a new one is. Since I work for the company I got it pretty cheap. I can transfer your SIM card into it for you.”

Brian hugged Barry tight. “This is so sweet, thank you. You’re an amazing person Barry.”

Barry laughed softly, holding Brian close. “I’m glad you like it. Let me see your phone.”

Brian handed his phone over, smiling as he watched Barry take the card out and slip it into the new phone. “There. That should get everything onto that one. Need help setting it up?”

Brian nodded, leaning against Barry as he turned on the new phone. Barry smiled sweetly, letting Brian cuddle close.

By the time Ross showed up, Brian was practically in Barry’s lap, cozy. Barry was rubbing his back, helping him get used to the new phone. Ross smiled, heading over and kissing their heads. “Hey dorks. What’s up?”

“Barry got me a new phone.” Brian smiled up at Ross.

Ross grinned. “I can’t believe Barry is your sugar daddy.”

Barry laughed. “Yeah, not in this economy.” He ran his fingers through Brian’s hair to make him grin.

Ross squeezed Brian’s shoulder, laughing. “Fair enough. Happy birthday honey.”

“Thanks Ross.” He grinned, laying his head on Barry’s shoulder. Barry kissed his head softly.

Ross flopped down on the couch on Brian’s other side. “Wanna play some Mario kart?”

“I’d love to.” 

Ross got back up to set up the game system, working to untangle the cords for the controllers, lightly biting his lip. All Brian could think was that he looked really fucking good. Ross caught his eye and winked, handing Brian and Barry controllers.

Barry’s arms ended up around Brian’s waist, fingers tapping on buttons. Ross was laughing as they played, legs stretched out on the couch comfortably. He really could take up quite a bit of space when he wanted to. 

Time passed and they just played a lot of rounds of Mario kart until Dan showed up, carrying a bag of food. “God, I need to get a job where I get out as early as you guys.”

“Hey if you want to grade tests for hours at a time at home, be my guest.” Brian grinned, glancing up.

“Whatever man. Happy birthday, by the way.”

Ross made a grabby hand at Dan, grinning when he was handed five dollars. “Thank you!”

“Whatever.” Dan sighed, watching them play a moment. “So Brian, how was your day?”

“It was good. Someone snuck into my classroom and drew all over my board though. But they did leave me a very nice pair of earbuds.”

Dan ruffled his hair. “I bet whoever did that is super manly and strong and has a giant di-“

Brian laughed. “Shut up, oh my god.” He looked up at Dan with a look of absolute adoration. “You’re a nerd.”

“I’m your nerd now.” He gently tipped up Brian’s face, kissing him sweetly on the lips. Which distracted him long enough for Ross to steal first place and win. Dan giggled, pulling away from Brian and setting the bag down. “Let’s eat and then we can cuddle and watch a movie or something.”

Ross made a vague sound of agreement, getting up to turn the system off, Dan getting plates from the kitchen.

As they started eating, Ross grinned. “So, it’s your birthday. Which means… time to tell embarrassing stories about Brian!”

Brian groaned. “Oh no. I know what one Dan’s gonna tell.”

Barry smiled. “I’ll go first then?” He smirked, and Brian groaned again. “One time when Brian and I went out to lunch together, before he came out as gay, so… early days of me and Dan dating, someone asked us if we were dating. Do you remember what you said Brian?”

Brian sighed. “I panicked and said ‘I’m jewish’ and you laughed so hard you almost fell out of your chair.”

Dan almost choked. “Woah, I never heard about that!”

“I was so embarrassed I made him swear not to tell anyone. I mean, Barry’s Jewish and I’m only half Jewish so… god, what was going through my head?” Brian laughed a little, sighing. “I thought I was literally going to die of embarrassment.”

Ross smiled. “Alright, uh, do you guys remember when Brian and I had to go on the teaching retreat thing? Well, when we were there, we basically sat there and got lectured half the day. So I was half asleep next to Brian, pretending to pay attention, and he just shrieks and falls off the bench we were sitting on. So because of that the bench rips over and I’m on the floor too.”

“...there was a spider.” Brian laughed a little. “I guess it was kinda funny. But arachnophobia is extremely common. So I’m not apologizing for that.”

“Why are you scared of spiders?” Ross asked.

“They’re gross. And their brains extend into their goddamn legs. Which is gross. They’re just… icky.”

Dan grinned. “My turn!”

“Oh god.”

“Shut up.” Dan grinned, sipping his soda. “So this was about a year after we started living together. My parents came to visit, and I was frantic about cleaning and keeping things organized. I reminded Brian a bunch of times because he can be forgetful when it comes to dates. He ended up sleeping in the day Avi and Debbie showed up, and I’d just gotten back from the airport when Brian came downstairs shirtless. He made eye contact with me for about 3 seconds and then ran back up the stairs. At one point I did actually go up to see if he was okay, but he just told me to go away. 

“So at about 5pm rolls around and I just hear a thud from outside. I had no idea what happened, so I run out there and Brian’s just in a heap on the lawn after trying to escape through the window. If this was a two story house, he would’ve at least broken a few bones, but he was just bruised.” Dan giggled. “Later Avi asked me if Brian was okay, but it was very concerned and dad-like. As he is.”

Brian laughed. “Oh god, I was so humiliated. Your parents are so kind, but god…”

Dan reached over to squeeze Brian’s arm. “They think of you like a son.”

Ross laughed. “You tried to escape from the attic?”

“I would’ve been fine! My foot slipped, that’s all.”

Barry shook his head. “You’re… impossible, Brian.”

“I could’ve made if if it hadn’t rained the night before!” Brian crossed his arms. “The roof was wet.”

Barry giggled. “I’m sure. Where would you have gone?”

“I hadn’t thought that far yet. I was more focused on being anywhere else.” Brian laughed. “God, I was a dumbass?”

“Was?” Ross smirked a little. “Honey, a PhD doesn’t make you less of a dumbass.”

Dan reached to squeeze Brian’s hand. “Hey. Be nice to him.”

“Yeah, be nice to me.” Brian grinned. “I’m very smart. Sometimes.”

Dan got up, grinning. “Sometimes.” He headed into the kitchen, bringing out a cake. “I made this for you when I took off of work yesterday.”

Brian smiled. The cake was frosted a soft yellow, with ‘happy birthday!’ written in blue icing with a ninja drawn in the corner with black icing. “You made this? It’s amazing Dan.”

Dan grinned, sticking in candles. “I would’ve gotten enough candles to do one for every year, but I didn’t want the cake to collapse.”

“I’m not even 40, you dick.”

“You love me.” Dan started lighting the candles.

“Yeah, yeah. You love me too, so whatever.” Dan laughed, and he, Barry, and Ross sang happy birthday to Brian. He blew out the candles, smiling. “I love you guys.”

Dan kissed his head softly, taking the candles out so he could cut the cake. “Love you too, honey.”

Barry took Brian’s hand. “Love you too.”

Ross just winked, getting up to take the dinner plates to the kitchen, bringing back clean plates for cake. Brian smiled softly as Dan handed him a slice of cake. “This is probably my best birthday ever. Thanks guys.”

Dan ruffled his hair and laughed, making Brian sigh contently. Things really were going well now. And god, he was so fucking happy.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian is tired as the end of the year approaches. Ross does his best to cheer Brian up, and ends up stealing his pen, but Dan helps Brian rest when he gets home, which was probably what he really needed all along.

Early May came and Brian just felt… overwhelmed and underprepared, like he was under preparing his students, short changing them. It was early in the morning as he made his way into Ross’s classroom, just needing the comfort of his presence. “Bri? God, you look… awful. What’s going on?”

Brian sighed tiredly, sitting on Ross’s desk. “AP tests are next week. I just want to be able to have my students as prepared as possible.”

Ross kissed Brian’s forehead. “You’re working yourself to the bone honey. You’re a fantastic teacher, but you’ve gotta relax a little, take a few steps back and just breathe.”

“I know, I know… but they’re my kids, Ross. I want to give them every opportunity to do well, and I don’t want to be the reason they don’t pass.” Brian looked down, sighing. “This part of the year sucks… my students are so stressed and tired, and I have to press on to help them succeed. I just want to give them a break but… I can’t.”

Ross sighed softly, running his fingers through Brian’s hair. “You’re stressed and tired too. As soon as this year is over, we’re gonna do something to relax. Maybe a beach day or something.”

Brian smiled a little, looking up at him. “That sounds really nice… it’s just a matter of making it there.”

“You will. And your students have all the resources to do amazing on their tests. I’ve seen your students shine, I’ve seen you put your blood, sweat, and tears into everything you do. You’re an amazing teacher, a wonderful boyfriend, and just an overall spectacular person.”

Brian smiled, looking tired. “Thanks Ross… you’re amazing… I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” He pulled Brian into a soft kiss. After a moment, Brian’s arms wrapped around Ross’s shoulders, pulling him closer.

Ross kept running his fingers through Brian’s hair, soothing him. It was very early and they were both still tired, still needed to get ready for their classes, but Brian needed this. His anxiety had been spiking the last few days, enough that Dan had said he’d heard Brian walking around late into the night, sometimes into the morning.

Brian’s fingers dug into Ross’s shirt, holding him tightly as they kissed. It was getting heavier. Not sexual, just… needy. It was reassuring.

Ross slowly pulled away after a few long moments. “Hey… feeling a little better?”

Brian nodded, pulling Ross forward to hug him tightly. “Yeah, I do.”

Ross kissed Brian’s head, holding him tight. “Good. I worry about you when you get stressed out.”

Brian’s face was pressed lightly against Ross’s chest. “You’re so sweet… Dan’s been helpful at home, too.”

“I’d hope so. He mentioned something about how he forgot how nice the skylight was?”

Brian smiled a little. “Back before he got with Barry, we both got nightmares pretty frequently. ...I mean, I still do, but it’s getting better. Anyway, when one of us would have a bad one, we’d end up in the others room and just kind of cling to each other. Sometimes we’d fall back asleep, sometimes not. But when he’d end up in my room, those were usually nights he had nightmares, so I’d point out constellations or just talk to him about natural stuff.” 

He gave a soft laugh. “Sometimes I’d be getting up to head down to his room and he’d be on the steps on the way up. ...those nights were kind of the worst because it was hard. We couldn’t comfort each other very much, just relying on each other’s presence.” He sighed. “But we made it through all that. And now I have four boyfriends.”

Ross giggled softly. “You did get through it.” He hugged Brian tighter another moment. “Hey… you should probably head to your room. We don’t have much time before the day starts.” He let go, gently adjusting Brian’s tie. 

Brian nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay.” Ross gave him one more quick kiss on the lips before he left.

As the day wore on, Brian just felt more tired by each passing hour. Not only did he have to work on preparing his class, the elementary school in the district had brought their band to practice in a high school setting. Which was a nice gesture, unless your classroom happened to be a few rooms down from the band room. The school really did have an awful layout.

Sixth period rolled around, Brian’s free period, and he was ready to tear his hair out. He grabbed his laptop the papers he needed to grade and trudged down the hall, looking totally worn out.

Ross was talking with a student about her project when Brian came in, and he looked up in surprise. “Uh… I’ll be with you in a second, Dr. Wecht.”

It was always weird to refer to each other like that, but they had to maintain professionalism around students. Ross walked over to Brian when he finished talking to the student, eyeing him worriedly. “Bri, you okay? You look half dead.” His voice was soft, hand gently brushing Brian’s arm. 

“The elementary school band is here and… god, I want to support their tiny dreams, but they’re fifth graders and sure as hell aren’t prodigies, so please, please let me grade these papers in here.” Brian sighed, eyes pleading as he looked up at Ross.

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Ross gestures towards an empty table towards the back of the room. “No one sits back there.”

“I owe you my life.” Brian sat at the back table, starting to make his way through the stack of papers, but after just a few moments he realized he’d been staring at one test for a solid thirty seconds without actually absorbing anything he’d read. With an exasperated sigh, he let his forehead hit the table. 

“God, you’re more stressed than I thought.” Ross patted Brian’s shoulder, trying to be reassuring. 

“You know how it is. End of the year rush.” He lifted his head, rubbing his eyes. He’d been sleeping through his alarm, and just hadn’t had the time to shave for a few mornings. It just added to how utterly worn out he looked.

“Are you okay Dr. Wecht?” A girl who had him for second period looked back at him, looking concerned. Brian couldn’t help but to smile when he saw a streak of blue paint on her cheek from whatever art piece she’d been working on.

“I’m alright Julie. Just a lot of unfortunate circumstances all at once is all. But it’s kind of you to ask.” He looked back down at his papers, tapping his pen against the desk.

Ross grinned after a moment, going up to the front of the room. “Hey, how many of you have Dr. Wecht?”

Brian raised an eyebrow as about half the class raised their hands. It was honestly a surprising overlap to him, but he’d look into it later. “What are you playing at, O’Donovan?”

Ross smirked. “Well, how many of you know that Dr. Wecht is in a band?”

“Ross no!” Brian’s eyes widened. “Don’t you dare.”

“I’m gonna tell them.” He grinned. “His band is-“

“Dude, I’m going to injure you, shut up.” Brian’s eyes were wide, but his lips twitched into half a smile.

“I know you, man. You’d never hurt me.” Ross giggled.

“Don’t you dare say another word, I swear to god.”

“Aren’t you atheist?”

“Shut up, dude. I was… religious as a kid which probably counts for something.” Brian sighed, trying not to laugh. He knew Ross was just messing with him and… it was kind of fun, taking away some of his stress, even if students were staring and laughing.

Ross grinned when he saw the spark in Brian’s eyes even brighter than it had been in days. “I have the upper hand here and you know it.”

“Okay, okay. What do you want in exchange for your silence?”

“...I want your pen.”

“My pen?”

“Your pen.”

“Why the hell do you want my pen?”

“It’s a good pen, dude. Also I lost mine.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Brian sighed, shaking his head as he got up to hand over the pen.

Ross grinned, patting Brian’s arm. “Silence has been paid for.”

Brian shook his head, sighing. “You’re the actual worst.”

“Fight me, Wecht.” Ross cackled, starting to walk around the classroom to check on students’ projects.

“Hate you.”

“No you don’t!” Ross grinned brightly.

“If you say so.” Even if he pretended to be frustrated, it really did make his day better for awhile.

He stayed late to work with a few AP students, ending up not leaving until hours after the day had ended after having work left after the students had left.

It was overcast and humid as he trudged to his car, dead on his feet. And as he got out of the car at home, it just started to pour. He sighed tiredly, leaning back against the door once inside, practically soaked to the bone.

“Brian? God, it’s coming down out there, huh?” Dan took off his headphones, getting up to get Brian a towel.

“For the last minute.” Brian groaned softly.

Dan wrapped Brian in a towel, kissing his head softly. “I’m sorry honey. You’ve been having a rough week, haven’t you?”

He nodded, pressing his forehead to Dan’s chest. “I’m just so stressed out.”

“How about… I order us pizza and you go take a hot shower to warm up? Then we can cuddle.”

“That sounds nice.” Brian nodded, smiling a little when Dan pulled him into a kiss.

Twenty minutes later, Brian left the bathroom in soft pajama pants and an old tee, hair damp. Dan smiled softly, kissing his head. “Hi honey… feeling better?”

“I am, yeah.” He hugged Dan tight, wanting to be held.

Dan led Brian to the couch, sitting down and pulling Brian close. Brian was pretty much in his lap, legs resting across. Dan laughed a little. “I remember the first time you just put your legs over my lap. Confused the hell out of me.”

“You used to call it low contact intimacy. I guess we’ve finally moved on to high contact.”

“About time, huh? Your room or mine tonight?”

Brian smiled a little. “Mine. Even with the rain, it’s nice to watch out the skylight.”

Dan nodded, putting on the tv. “Yeah. And cuddling with you is nice. You’re very… clingy. It’s nice though.”

“I’ve been told I’m clingy a lot. I try not to be.”

“No, no, no, not clingy in a bad way. Clingy in the sense that when you cuddle with someone, you hold them like you never want to let go. It’s comforting, actually.”

“Oh. Okay.” Brian smiled, resting his head on Dan’s shoulder, cuddled as close as he could be.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Dan tapped Brian’s leg. “There’s the food. Get off me a minute hon.” Brian gave a long groan, but did, flopping sideways on the couch. “Drama queen.”

He got the pizza from the delivery guy, grinning as he set the box on the coffee table. Brian sat up and grabbed a slice of pizza, sighing. “I should probably go over my lesson plans again…”

“No.” Dan sat down. “You’re not doing any work tonight. I don’t want to wake up at 3 am to go use the bathroom and find you still working again.”

“What if I just-“

“No.”

“I can-“

“No. You’re going to rest, and we’re gonna go to bed at a reasonable time, and I’m gonna hold you close and you’re going to sleep.”

Brian sighed, taking a bite of his pizza. “Fine.”

“Good.” Dan pulled Brian closer. “I love you, you know.”

“I know. I love you too.” Brian laid his head on Dan shoulder, sighing sleepily. “I guess I should get some extra sleep anyway…”

“You should. Ross texted me earlier and said you looked dead on your feet.”

“He stole my pen. I liked that pen.”

“...I’m totally missing something here.”

Brian sighed and recounted what had happened while eating his pizza. “So yeah, he did steal my pen.”

“You’ve really had a long day, hm?” Dan smiled softly. “Tomorrow won’t be as rough, okay?”

“Alright.” Brian leaned on him, half curled up once he finished his pizza.

Dan played with his hair for awhile until it started to get late. “Come on. Bedtime for sleepy boyfriends.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “You’re ridiculous, Danny.”

“You love me, Brian.” He put the leftover pizza in the fridge before following Brian upstairs. “Remember when you used to tell me about constellations?”

There was a loud rumble of thunder and Brian smiled faintly. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing many tonight.”

“I’ll just have to look at your cute face, I guess!”

“So gay.” Brian sat on his bed, watching Dan.

Dan giggled, walking around the bed to the other side. “Only for you.” He paused. “And Ross and Barry. But for you at the moment.”

“Stop talking honey.” Brian laughed, getting under the blankets.

Dan grinned, getting cozied up to him. “No.”

Brian kissed Dan’s head, holding him close. “Fine.” He looked up at the skylight, watching the lightning.

Dan kissed Brian’s cheek softly, yawning. “Good night, baby.”

“Good night Dan. Sleep well.”

“By your side, how could I not?”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian spends some quality time with Barry while finishing up his last test of the year.

“You realize it’s Saturday, right?” Brian watched as Dan came out of the bathroom, skin flushed pink from a hot shower.

“I can ask you the same thing. I got called into work. The girl who was supposed to go in today got really sick, so I’m filling in. What are you doing up?”

“Final revisions. I need them done by Monday.”

“Thought your students already took their finals?”

“No, my AP students took AP exams. They’re exempt from the final if they took it, but the rest of my students need to take the final.”

“Oh.” Dan nodded. “Makes sense. Barry’s still asleep and I don’t wanna wake him up, so… can you let him know where I went?”

“Sure. I’d love to spend time with him anyway.” Brian looked down at his laptop to keep working.

Before Dan left, he bent down to kiss Brian’s head. “Make sure to eat something today and stay hydrated. It’s hot out.”

“It’s always hot out. We live in California.”

“Brian. Seriously.”

“I’ll take care of myself, don’t worry babe.” He tilted his head back to give Dan a quick kiss. “I love you.”

“Love you too baby girl!” Dan waved, heading out.

Brian worked on going over the test, biting his lip as he worked out equations for probably the third time to make sure they worked.

Barry came out of the bedroom about an hour later, shirtless and sleepy eyed. “Brian? Where’d Dan go?”

“He got called into work. Want me to make you a mug of coffee or something?”

Barry stretched, sighing. “That would be nice, thanks.”

Brian got up, kissing Barry’s cheek as he passed. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah. You know you’re allowed to come down and join us, right?”

“I know. But you two sounded pretty busy when I went up to bed.” He smirked when Barry blushed softly. “So, you gonna head home or hang out with me?”

“Oh, I can hang out with you?”

“Dude, you’re my boyfriend.”

“Fair enough.” He smiled a little, watching Brian make the coffee before poking through the fridge. “I basically live here these days, anyway.”

“You kinda do, huh?” Brian smiled a little, pouring the coffee for him. “I can’t tell you how often I find your stuff when I’m doing laundry.”

“In my defense, it’s Dan’s fault.” He smiled as he accepted the mug of coffee. “He likes to steal my shirts.”

“Yeah, that’s fair. Want me to make eggs or something?”

“Sure!” Barry grinned. “You’re so sweet.”

“Well, Dan was yelling at me to take care of myself, so…” He laughed, getting out everything he needed.

Barry smiled. “You guys make me really happy, you know that? I never thought I’d end up dating you, but I’ve always thought you have a nice ass.”

“Well, it’s nice to know there are people in this world who do appreciate my fantastic ass.” Brian smiled as he cracked eggs into the pan.

“It’s an amazing ass hon.” Barry grinned brightly as he watched Brian.

“I do my best. So what are you up to today?”

“Nothing except chilling with you.” Barry lightly drummed his fingers on the table. “How about you?”

“Just finalizing the… well, the final. I have all the questions planned, I just need to be sure the equations work out. My students have my final on Tuesday, but I want it done Monday.”

Barry nodded. “You’re the kind of teacher I wish I had in high school. I had one teacher who said something like ‘you’re not going to get an A in my class’.”

Brian shook his head. “I always lose respect for those people. Why would you be proud of your inability to teach your students? It’s not talking about difficulty, it’s about being unable to teach a class. I teach a hard course, but I do everything I can to give my students every fucking opportunity to pass.”

“You’re the good kind of teacher.”

“I’m sure as hell not in it for the salary.” He smiled a little, humming an NSP song under his breath. Barry watched with a small smile as Brian kept cooking, finishing a few minutes later and plating the eggs. “Here you go!”

Barry grinned. “Thank you Brian. These look great.”

Brian sat down at the table with him to eat. “Thanks. I’m pretty good at cooking things with 4 or less steps.”

Barry laughed. “I’m a good baker. But I’m not great with cooking. Baking is a lot more precise.”

“Baking is a lot more scientific too.” Brian smiled. “I knew there was a reason I like you.”

“Because I’m utterly adorable and like the more scientific method of making food?”

“Exactly. Plus I love cookies and that kind of thing.”

“I know. Your favorite kind is peanut butter chocolate chip.”

Brian grinned. “The two universal best flavors rolled into one.”

“Unless you have a peanut allergy.”

“Well, I guess, but I don’t have a peanut allergy.”

“Fair enough.” Barry smiled as he ate his breakfast, playfully kicking at Brian’s feet under the table, content to just relax.

They made idle chatter until Brian got up to take care of the dishes. Once he was done, he headed into the living room where he’d left his stuff. Barry joined him a few moments later. “Mind if I turn the tv on?”

“Go for it. It’ll make good background noise.”

Barry turned it to some baking show, Brian scribbling things down on paper and typing on his laptop. This was one of the reasons Brian had always liked Barry, even when he wanted to hate him. They didn’t have to talk. They could just sit together and feel relaxed.

It took about two hours, Barry getting up to shower at one point, getting more coffee another time, but Brian finished his work. He sighed, shutting his laptop. “And with that… I’m done. I just need to grade these once the students take them, and I’m done for the year.”

“How many students are taking it?”

“Uh… 50? I think… I have four classes of honors students, all the AP kids took their test… so that’s 72, but I have 23 seniors who I’m allowing to opt out… so 49, actually.” He set his laptop and the papers he’d used on the coffee table.

“Huh. When’d you get up this morning?”

“Quarter to 7. Woke up early and thought I’d get work done since I was already up.” He yawned. “Guess it was pretty early for a Saturday.”

Barry laughed. “Come here. Cuddle and watch baking shows with me.”

Brian shifted closer, smiling when Barry looked an arm around his waist. Barry was always warm and comforting. Just being near him was always soothing.

Brian found himself curling up close to Barry, idly watching the show. Contestants were making huge cakes to compete for money. “When I was little, I wanted to own a bakery.”

“Is that right?” Barry sounded amused.

“Mhm. I liked to help my mom in the kitchen. She’d let me measure out flour and sugar and crack eggs. That kind of thing.” He smiled a little. “I remember one time… I was probably 9 or 10… I tripped with a bag of flour and it just got everywhere. All over the kitchen. I uh… I didn’t get to help with much for a little while. I was a clumsy kid.”

“Is that what Dan did with pancake batter?”

Brian laughed, stretching his arms with another soft yawn. “Uh huh. It’s pretty funny.”

Barry grinned. “Get some more sleep.” 

Brian laid down, head on Barry’s lap. Barry stroked his hair, smiling softly. Brian fell asleep pretty fast, snoring softly, chest rumbling a little. Barry giggled, letting him rest. 

Two hours passed of Brian curled up against Barry, sleeping contently. He woke up with his face pressed against Barry’s stomach. “Hey honey…” Barry smiled.

Brian rolled onto his back, blinking up at Barry. “Hi.”

Barry smiled softly. “Groggy?”

“Little bit.” He rubbed his eyes sleepily.

“Cute.” Barry ran his fingers through Brian’s hair before he slowly sat up with a long yawn.

“I’m not cute. I’m badass.”

“You’re a badass cutie.”

“...fine.” He cuddled closer, smiling a little. “Still watching cooking shows?”

“Yeah.” Barry smiled softly. “They’re exciting.”

“Mhm.” Brian smiled as the show played, comfortable against Barry. “Hey.”

“Hm?”

“I love you. I know I haven’t really said it to you, but this is so new and I was anxious. But I love you, Barry.”

“I love you too, Brian. I couldn’t be happier to be your boyfriend.” Barry smiled brightly, kissing Brian’s forehead. Brian settled closer, smiling happily.

“We need to spend more time together.”

“Definitely.” Barry nodded. 

“Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night?”

“I would love that.” Barry kissed his head and settled against him.

“Perfect.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The year is finally over and it’s time to hit the beach and just relax.

Brian sighed as he carried the beach chairs down to the beach, smiling as he watched Barry scoop Ross up, running towards the ocean. The school year was finally over, and Dan and Ross had planned a beach day with some of the others. It was nice, and Brian had been looking forward to this. 

Dan slung an arm around Brian as they made their way down the beach. “Perfect day, huh?”

“Yeah. The sun’s out, you’re with me… definitely perfect.” He grinned.

“Oh my god.” Dan laughed loudly. “Dork.”

“I’m a dork? You’ve never once said that to me.” Brian set up the chairs with a laugh, Dan posting the umbrella down in the sound. “You brought the sunscreen, right?”

“Of course. You’re so pale, you basically sunburn when you see the sun.” Dan dug it out of his bag.

“...fair enough.” Brian took the sunscreen, starting to cover himself in it. This was the first time he’d been shirtless outside in… years. It was anxiety inducing, but freeing.

Dan sat down in one of the chairs, stretching contently. “I’m so glad we can do this. It’s nice to hang with my babes.” He looked at Brian. “You heading to the ocean?”

“Not yet. I know you’re staying here, so I’ll give you company for awhile.” He rubbed sunscreen on his legs before handing the bottle to Dan. “Get my back for me?”

Dan sat up, starting to take care of Brian’s back. “Aw, thanks hon. That’s sweet of you.”

“I want you to have just as good a day as everyone else.” Brian smiled, giving a content hum at Dan’s hands on his back.

“Gay.”

“Mhm.” Brian laughed. “I’ll get your back when you’re done.”

“Thanks!” Dan smiled, switching with Brian a minute later.

Down the beach, Ross was laughing loudly, in Barry’s arms as Barry ran into the ocean. “Barry!”

“Ross!” Barry retorted. He kissed Ross’s face, standing knee deep in the ocean before setting Ross down.

Ross was immediately almost knocked over by a wave. “You jerk, you planned that!”

“No way! I didn’t!” His giggling said otherwise. 

“You’re dead Kramer!”

“Gotta catch me first.” He pressed a quick kiss to Ross’s lips before hurrying deeper into the ocean, laughing loudly as Ross gave chase.

“Hey boys.” Suzy grinned, setting up her towel next to Dan’s chair.

Dan grinned. “Hey Suze! Hi Holly!”

Holly waved, smiling as she sat down next to Suzy. “Hey. This was a great idea, Dan. Thanks for inviting us.”

Dan smiled as Brian finished putting sunscreen on his back. “Yeah, oh course! You guys are some of our best friends. Arin and Jack and Vernon should be here soon, but Vernon had to run Michael to the vet really early this morning.”

Holly frowned. “What? Is she okay?”

“She ate… something. I’m not sure what, but he was pretty freaked out. I’m sure she’ll be okay though. Michael’s resilient.”

Suzy nodded, adjusting her sun hat. “Definitely! She’s a good cat. Almost as good as Mimi.”

Brian smiled. “Mimi is a fantastic cat. Ross just has a noodle cat, as he calls her.”

Holly laughed. “Well, that’s basically what feeders are. Cats. But noodly.”

Dan giggled. “That’s cute as hell.”

Suzy smiled when she saw Ross and Barry heading up the beach, both wet from the ocean and laughing. “Hey you two!”

“Hi Suzy!” Ross grinned brightly. “Glad you two could make it.”

Holly smiled. “We’re happy to be here.”

Ross grinned, moving to hug Brian. “Hiiii.”

Brian groaned. “Ross.”

“What?” Ross smiled innocently, giggling. “What’s wrong Bri?”

Brian sighed, kissing Ross’s salty smelling hair. “Nothing, nothing.”

“Good.” Ross sat on Brian’s lap, getting him wet.

“You suck.”

“I know.” He ruffled Brian’s hair, giggling.

Ross managed to drag Brian out into the ocean for awhile, which really ended up being Ross clinging to Brian’s back and laughing as Brian was hit by waves. Brian absolutely dropped under the water a few times to get his revenge. Which just made Ross giggle more.

By the time they were heading back up, Ross still on Brian’s back, Vernon, Arin, and Jack had showed up. Ross got off of Brian, smiling. “Hey guys! How’s Michael?”

Vernon smiled. “She’s alright. She was acting weird and chewing on blankets and just being weirdly aggressive. She’s just a little sick and needs to rest and take some meds. She’ll be alright until we go home.”

Dan smiled, building something in the sand with Barry. “Glad to hear it. She’s a great cat.”

“The best.”

Brian smiled, sitting down in his beach chair to rest.

It had been a long year. He’d fallen in love more than once, opened up to being allowed to love and show affection, learned to love himself, and became a much happier person. And it was an amazing feeling.


End file.
